Oxygen Esports at the Top of NAL After Match-Day #2

So far, Davide “FoxA” Bucci has led his troops into battle successfully. With two victories and six points to their name, they are in first place, but DarkZero have already taken up the chase. How long will Oxygen manage to stay on top?

On the first play-day, OXG won a narrow 7-5 map over XSET. Had they lost just one more round, they would have entered overtime and would have missed out on a valuable point in the standings. However, just like Susquehanna and beastcoast, they managed to get away with a full three points and placed themselves on top of the leaderboard.

On the second match-day, Mirage were in line to receive a 3-7 beating at the hands of the new Oxygen Esports lineup. This gave FoxA and his men the vital points to climb to first place, as their pursuers, DarkZero, had only managed to win after overtime on the first day. But will this only be a short-lived success story for these players?

OXYGEN HAD IT EASY

They really haven’t had to fight the top brass yet. XSET and Mirage are by no means high-profile competitors in NAL as of now. The top gunners of 2020, DZ, TSM, and SSG, are still waiting to lock horns with Oxygen and – as they did so often – beat them to the ground. Moreover, Spacestation Gaming had sat out the first match-day. This means that they haven’t even had the opportunity to secure a second win and place on top of the standings. After an upset loss on the first day, TSM bounced back with a clear 7-0 over XSET. It appears as though Oxygen’s time at the top is limited and they will soon have to be content with a slightly lower placement in the league.

WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN ON MATCH-DAY #3?

On the second day, the former NAL Season 1 Top 4 were successful in all their matches. All signs are pointing towards a reprise of that day, as the league’s new rosters haven’t really proven themselves so far. After all, beastcoast are the only ones to record a victory over the established teams up to this point. SSG will receive an easier opponent in the form of Susquehanna, and TSM are playing versus Mirage, who ended the last match-day with a 3-7 defeat at the hands of Oxygen. Later, OXG will face off with Disrupt Gaming, who are at the bottom of the Stage 1 standings alongside XSET.

Things might get exciting for DarkZero, though. Now that beastcoast were on a break during the second match-day, they haven’t actually shown themselves since their upset victory over TSM. Their surprising 7-3 finish over the NAL US Division 2020 winners makes them dangerous and DZ only have limited means to prepare for and counter these players. Maybe beastcoast will be able to lock in their second upset win and advance on the leaderboard. It would definitely be an exciting and welcome twist of events for a league that was largely reduced to only four high-profile teams last year.