Image: Ubisoft/Eric Anamalay
Here is how Day 6 of the APAC South Division looked like:
- FURY 7-2 Wildcard Gaming
- Dire Wolves 8-7 Elevate
- Gaimin Gladiators 7-5 Tyde
Play of the day: Tex ace against Gaimin Gladiators
Tex "Tex" Thompson returned to competitive play in Stage 3, having spent almost an entire year away from the game. However, he has been a bright spark for the organization-less Tyde and has seemed very much still in form.
With Tyde already down 0-2, despite being on the defense on Clubhouse, Tex rebuffed the Indonesians' attempts at making it three rounds in a row with a remarkable ace that gave Tyde hope of a win.
Player of the day: i9
Sumate "i9" Srimabut was in incredible form for FURY against Wildcard Gaming, a team that had crushed Elevate just five days ago in 7-2 fashion.
Instead, i9 helped his team to a 7-2 demolition of Wildcard, piling on the pain with an incredible 14 kills in a mere nine rounds. He only died four times and even had two entry kills, playing Iana and Warden.
As a result, the former Elevate man finished with a SiegeGG Rating of 1.77 and kept his team within reach of the Jönköping Major. All they need to do is take three points against Tyde this coming week and hope that Elevate deliver against Gaimin Gladiators.
Surprise of the day: Elevate
For once, Elevate find themselves as the surprise of the day for a good reason. Of course, the reason they were a surprise last week was because they have been in shocking form in Stage 3 -- they have missed out on the Major and could also fail to qualify to SI 2023 directly.
The Thai team were coming off a 2-7 loss to Wildcard on Saturday and were not expected to put up much resistance against a marauding Dire Wolves, who have not lost a game since Jul. 30 in all competitions.
Instead, Elevate turned on the heat and it seemed like they were ready to deny Dire Wolves a place at the Major as things stood. They raced away to a 3-0 lead on Villa attack, before finding themselves 4-1 up.
While they were not able to hang on and eventually lost 7-8, the one point they took off Dire Wolves bodes well for their hopes this week against Gaimin Gladiators and could finish in fourth place in APAC South to stay in the top 16 of the SI Points standings.
Top moments of the day
Here's a quickfire rundown of other top moments in APAC South this week.
Dire Wolves qualify for Jönköping Major
After their 8-7 comeback victory against Elevate, Dire Wolves secured their place at the upcoming Six Jönköping Major.
With this win, the Taiwanese team has 13 points total and cannot fall outside of the top two, despite third-placed FURY only having 10 points, as Dire Wolves hold the tiebreaker over the Thai team.
They follow CYCLOPS athlete gaming and SANDBOX Gaming, who qualified the day before from APAC North, and become the first team from APAC South to do so.
Wildcard's Vincere retires
Vincent "Vincere" Daniele announced his retirement from competitive Siege after his team's final match in the 2022 season, a 2-7 loss to FURY.
"I have found that I no longer have the spark that made me the player I once was," said Vincere in a TwitLonger, citing the struggles he and his team faced in APAC South.
Vincere also highlighted uncertainty regarding the future of the Oceanic region and said that "it is becoming more apparent that a full-time career will be (most-likely) not possible".
Gaimin Gladiators nearly drop points
Gaimin Gladiators should have taken three points without issue against Tyde last week. However, they looked shakier than expected against Tyde despite an early 2-0 lead.
A 4-2 lead at the half vanished as Tyde took three rounds in a row, as the attackers seemed in control on Clubhouse. Gaimin Gladiators rallied, however, denying Tyde their first points in Stage 3 and took all three points to stay one point ahead of FURY in the standings -- vital, considering FURY play Tyde this week and GG themselves play Elevate.
Elevate need one point to stay in SI 2023 contention
Elevate find themselves in fifth place right now -- level on points with Wildcard, but behind due to the head-to-head primary tiebreaker in APAC. That spells trouble for them, as both APAC North and South only offer SI Points to the top four teams at the end of the stage.
The issue is further compounded considering their final game of this stage -- Gaimin Gladiators. The Gladiators are pushing for a place at the Major and will likely beat Elevate, but Elevate still have a chance.
Thanks to the schedule and seven-team league, Wildcard play no further games this stage. Any points gained by Elevate will thus be unopposed by Wildcard and only one point is necessary to climb to fourth place, which will give Elevate a further 145 SI Points for a 2022 total of 800 SI points.
That total should be safe enough for Elevate to stay in the top 16 of the SI Points standings, even after the Jönköping Major ends, and will directly qualify them to the Six Invitational 2023.