Game 1: Excelerate 2-1 Elephant Gang
Maps: Oregon (2-6), Coastline (7-6), Clubhouse (6-3)
Excelerate: Achieved, Shlongii, Krusher, Nicks, biolog1cs
Elephant Gang: Avian, Trippen, Kanine, Neptunez, Ghxst
In a match that ultimately decided who would go directly up to the Pro League, the favorites of Elephant Gang came out strong with a dominant win on Oregon. However, Excelerate came back with a vengeance on Coastline. And despite the very close map, decided by all three rounds of overtime, Excelerate were able to keep their hopes alive with an close victory and pushed the match to Clubhouse. Here, they pulled their team together and took map three by six rounds to three. This victory meant not only that fourth placed Excelerate would be going to the Pro League, but their player Matthew “Achieved” Solomon will be making the step up after five straight seasons of playing in the Challenger League.
Game 2: Noble esports 2-1 Elephant Gang
Maps: Clubhouse (6-1), Border (4-6), Coastline (6-3)
Noble: Yeti, zz, Acid, Breezy, Krazy
Elephant Gang: Avian, Trippen, Kanine, Neptunez, Ghxst
Elephant Gang was given a second chance to make it to the Pro League in their final relegations match versus seventh place Pro League team Noble esports. While Noble is a relatively low level Pro League team, they are certainly no pushovers, as their six to one victory on map one proved. Elephant Gang put up an incredibly gallant effort on map two, though, winning it six rounds to zero. On map three, however, once again Noble showed why they deserved to stay in the Pro League, winning six rounds to three. After this devastating series of losses for Elephant Gang, multiple team members have announced their retirement or a break from competitive play.
Catch Excelerate Gaming and Noble esports in action in Season 9 of the Pro League, and Elephant Gang with their swansong at the US Nationals LAN.