ORDER strike back to claim ESL Pro League S12 spot

ORDER have claimed Oceania’s ESL Pro League Season 12 spot in stunning fashion, finding revenge against rivals AVANT Gaming in a final best-of-five sweep 3-1 (0-1, 16-14, 16-7, 16-8).

Led by star AWPer Alistair ‘aliStair’ Johnson (1.43 rating, 72-45, +27 K/Diff), ORDER denied AVANT a single map in the grand final and in doing so, completed the lower bracket run that began on Sunday with a clean 2-0 win over Chiefs Esports Club (19-17, 16-7).

Veterans Ricardo ‘Rickeh’ Mulholland (1.25 rating, +53 K/Diff) & Karlo ‘USTILO’ Pivac (1.18 rating, +44 K/Diff) joined aliStair at the top of the stats board, with AVANT sniper Euan ‘sterling’ Moore (1.14) & Paradox’s Luke ‘ekul’ Blakey (1.14) trailing just behind.

‍

Paradox Gaming began well with a 2-0 win over Ground Zero Gaming and were a map up against ORDER in the winner bracket semifinal, but a 60-frag effort from Jireh ‘J1rah’ Youakim kept his squad ahead on Train and Dust 2 to progress to the winner bracket final.

AVANT overcame Chiefs 2-0 to join ORDER in the much-anticipated best-of-three, with ORDER drawing first blood on Train 19-15 after a flawless 4-0 overtime. AVANT’s 11 CT rounds on map two, Nuke, would prove enough to force the third map 16-12.

AVANT had ORDER on the ropes with seven map & series points but could not capitalise on the lead as aliStair & USTILO combined for thirteen opening kills to tie up the game in regulation. Their efforts would prove to be futile – sterling (1.21, 28-21) & Jared ‘HaZR’ O’Bree (1.28, 26-24) were steadfast on the CT side and held off the ORDER advance 19-17 to lock in the grand final map advantage.

ORDER would meet Chiefs in the lower bracket final, who had taken down Ground Zero & Paradox 2-0 in their lower bracket run. But despite an overtime effort on Inferno, they could not overcome the eventual champions – ORDER hung onto map one 19-17 before an 11-round T side set them up for the AVANT rematch, claiming Train over Chiefs 16-7.

With the one map advantage, AVANT looked for their second with a solid 8-3 CT start before ORDER closed out the half with four straight. In a game of streaks, AVANT hit the lead at 14-12 but another regulation comeback saw ORDER claim first blood in the final 16-14.

From here, ORDER set about dismantling AVANT in brutal fashion; a 12-3 CT shutout on Train was closed out 16-7, thanks to Matthew ‘Valiance’ Hartrick (1.42 rating, 23-16, 103.7 ADR), before breaking AVANT’s CT pistol round win on Nuke to string together five straight bomb plants.

‍

ORDER’s 9-6 T side lead would prove to be the difference. AVANT managed two bomb plants early on their T side but both were successfully retaken, before an aliStair defuse knocked AVANT out of the qualifier 16-8 – ORDER taking the single Oceania slot 3-1 in the grand final.

ORDER will join compatriots 100 Thieves and Renegades in ESL Pro League Season 12 which is set to begin in early September. However, the premier USD $750,000 event, originally planned to take place offline, will be revised given continued travel restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

ESL Pro League Season 10: Oceania Qualifier

[1] ORDER — ESL Pro League Season 12 

[2] AVANT Gaming

[3] Chiefs Esports Club

[4] Paradox Gaming

[5] Ground Zero Gaming

Stay up to date with news, results, interviews and more with Here’s The Thing.
‍

‍
Credits:‍

• Written by Nicholas Taifalos
• Edited by Adam Taylor