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R6 NAL: DarkZero & Oxygen Fighting For 1st Place

The two teams are just one Best-of-Three away from making first place in NAL. Being part of the Winner’s... Fabio | 7. October 2020

The two teams are just one Best-of-Three away from making first place in NAL. Being part of the Winner’s Group of the US Division, DarkZero, Oxygen, SSG and TSM may already be qualified for the next Major event – but their performance in the upcoming matches will decide their seeding.

DARKZERO 2-0 TSM

DarkZero have managed to win over Team SoloMid once more, but this time around, TSM made it much closer. On Consulate, DZ got on a quick 4-2 on their offense. As they then managed to hold the Lobby/Piano and Garage/Cafeteria sites as well, things looked bleak for TSM. They did manage to mount a small comeback, but DarkZero ended the map on a 7-4 scoreline.

On Villa, TSM got into the game much better and got a 4-2 lead this time around. Only three offense rounds would have been enough to seal the deal, but DarkZero dragged them all the way to overtime. There, TSM secured the first round, but DZ eventually held the win on an 8-7 scoreline, following wins on Cash/CCTV attack and Church/Arsenal defense.

DarkZero now have the chance of making first place in NAL US Division Stage 2. If Kyle “Mint” Lander performs the same way again, their chances are great. But they’ll have to face Oxygen, who have just taken down the biggest prospect of the first phase.

OXYGEN 2-0 SSG

In their duel versus DarkZero, Spacestation had managed to impress and had quickly secured their ticket to the Winner’s Group. Oxygen, on the other hand, had struggled mightily early on. But still, they made this one a close match.

On Theme Park, the SSG defense held sway and secured them 4 rounds in the first half. But the same held true for Oxygen, who wound up making it to overtime. OXG won both defense rounds and snatched the 8-7 victory on the first map. So Spacestation were standing with their backs against the wall. On Kafe, they could at least play out their own map pick – which didn’t matter, as Oxygen had prepared perfectly.

Their defense was virtually unbreakable. Towards the end of the first half, SSG finally managed to secure one meager round, but nonetheless they entered the second half with a gigantic deficit. They tried their best to make a comeback, but failed in two Cooking/Service defenses. Oxygen Esports got the 7-4 map and match win.

So Oxygen and DarkZero are just one step away from making first place in Stage 2. The winning side will get the highest seed for the November Major, and obviously a huge chunk of the prize money. So the two teams will take this next match very seriously. Nothing is over yet for SSG and TSM, as they’ll still be able to make second place via the Lower Bracket of this GSL group.

THE LOSERS OF STAGE 2

In the Loser’s Group, Tempo Storm and eUnited have to decide on the last-placed team of the second stage. This would be a crushing result for both sides. At the start of the stage, Tempo Storm had won versus Oxygen and Tim “Creators” Humpherys in particular has been amongst the best individual players of the league, despite all their defeats.

But eUnited were able to take SSG and DarkZero to their absolute limits as well. While their players might not be as individually capable as the Tempo Storm roster, they proved to be able to win rounds versus the strongest teams in the league, even dragging them to overtimes. Nonetheless, they’re now facing relegation.