Image: Ubisoft/Kirill B.
DWG KIA spoils Mag’s return to Fnatic
It’s early days, but DWG KIA are starting Stage 3 off with a familiar position -- top of APAC North -- after a 7-3 victory over Fnatic’s new roster, which is now led by Australian player Etienne “Mag” Rousseau.
The Koreans had full control of the game despite playing without Yoo “yass” Sang-hoon, as their coach and former T1 player Jaehyun “PJH” Park stepped in.
Every DWG KIA player had a SiegeGG Rating above 1.00, with Jan “RIN” Byeong-uk leading with a 1.56 figure. Meanwhile, Fnatic didn’t have a strong performance after their major mid-season overhaul, as all players had SiegeGG Ratings below 0.70.
Considering the roster has been practicing with three new players for just two weeks, it’s not surprising to see the team struggle, especially in the early stages of the split and against a titanic team like DWG. However, Fnatic must react before the relegation battle gets more intense for the Japanese-majority roster.
REJECT off to great start after SANDBOX upset
Arguably the biggest upset of the week in APAC was REJECT’s 7-5 victory against Berlin Major-attendees SANDBOX Gaming.
Playing on Clubhouse, the Japanese roster fell behind to the Koreans during the first half. SANDBOX won four of their six defenses thanks to Jiheon “GoodBoy” Lee and Kim “EnvyTaylor” Seong-soo, who each clutched one round.
But, the Japanese side would make a comeback as they won five of their six defenses. Following this win, REJECT now have the same number of points as Fnatic and Spear Gaming in the combined APAC standings, with the three teams are in the fight to avoid relegation.
Meanwhile, CYCLOPS athlete gaming defeated Talon Esports by a 7-4 margin; the same result seen in Spear Gaming’s crucial victory over FAV Gaming.
LaXInG’s Elevate starts off with big victory against upgraded Knights
APAC’s most in-form team of the moment, Elevate, has welcomed Gabriel “LaXInG” Mirélez with an outstanding 7-1 win against Knights.
All Elevate players aside from Saravut “markshortboyz” Mandee scored SiegeGG Ratings above 1.20, with Adithep “DCH” Channuan top of the performance sheets.
Constrastingly, all Knights players had SiegeGG Ratings under 0.75. All eyes were on Matin “SpeakEasy” Yunos’s debut with the Australian-majority roster, with the Singaporean struggling to perform with a negative entry balance of 0-2 and a SiegeGG Rating of 0.42.
Former iG team Tyde falls to Wildcard Gaming
The former Invictus Gaming roster, now known as Tyde, lost to Wildcard Gaming by a 7-4 margin in what was Hafiz “ShibeNuts” Al Fayyed’s top-flight debut and the first match former Fnatic man Tex “Tex” Thompson in nearly a year.
Meanwhile, former Chiefs player Kelton “bouncinballz” Mclachlan made his debut with Wildcard in winning fashion, while Harry "Tuhan" Wise played his first game in APAC South. Their new team hardly struggled on Chalet, beating the “org-less” roster after a good defensive half.
After Dire Wolves’ overtime victory over FURY, both Elevate and Wildcard Gaming lead the standings in APAC South, with Gaimin Gladiators still yet to make their Stage 3 debut.