Kicking things off with a solid 3-0 victory, ATL Academy came back from their loss against Element Mystic looking stronger than ever. Sending XL2 Academy packing, Kamden “Sugarfree” Hijada made some sweet plays on Doomfist throughout the series. XL2’s inability to adapt to deal with either Sugarfree or Garrett “Saucy” Roland would ultimately be their downfall.
In the second match of the night, Talon Esports would face off against Gen.G. In a nail-biting series, both Talon and Gen.G would trade map after map. Things seemed dire on Route 66 for Talon, but Ji-Yoon “Gogora” Lee and Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong would keep Gen.G from pushing the payload to the end of the map. Unfortunately for Talon, minor misplays would cost them Lijiang, and their Gauntlet journey ended here.
Gauntlet Day 4 Results
Going into the next match, Runaway would face off against Element Mystic in the Upper Finals. Mystic would start strong by taking the first two maps, but in true Runaway fashion, the boys in pink would turn things around when fans least expected it. They would near full-hold Mystic on Horizon Lunar Colony, but would come up short on Dorado.
On Ilios, Hee-Su “Heesu” Jeong would decide to run Widowmaker on Ruins, but Dong-ha “Doha” Kim terrorized his teammates on Sombra caused him to swap Sombra as well. This move secured the first map for Runaway, and Heesu would then make the confident swap back onto Widowmaker for Lighthouse. Dominating over his old teammates, Heesu and Jun-ki “Yaki” Kim would drag Runaway kicking and screaming to King’s Row. Unfortunately for Runaway, Element Mystic would prevent them from pushing the payload to the end of the map, thus forcing the pink champions into Lower Finals.
The night would end how it began with another 3-0 victory for ATL Academy. Both Sugarfree and Saucy would once again dominate over their DPS counterparts. Much like the night before, Gen.G would crumble before their opponents. They managed to gain some momentum back on Eichenwalde, but Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway smelled blood. On Mercy, he would miraculously keep his team in the fight by taking four of Gen.G’s players down while valking. Although So-myung “Bliss” Kim would also pop off on everyone’s favorite guardian angel, it would not be enough, and ATL Academy would take the series.
After four action-packed days, it all ends here. Tonight, ATL Academy will face off against Runaway in the Lower Finals. The winner of this match will then go on to play against Element Mystic in the Grand Finals. Both of these matches will be first-to-four, so make sure to chug plenty of coffee, and plan any naps accordingly cause fans are going to be in this for the long-haul.
All three of these teams have proved themselves to be the best of the best. ATL Academy’s ability to adapt has almost been unmatched throughout the tournament. However, with Runaway being… well, Runaway, they will have to stay on their toes to keep up with this wild card team. Runaway tends to come in clutch when one least expects it. When all hope seems lost, at least one of their players will decide that they want to win after all and dash their opponent’s hopes and dreams. This series is admittedly hard to predict; both teams are incredible, and both have a lot to prove. It will all come down to who is more hungry for greatness, and ATL Academy seems to be starving.
Element Mystic Starting Lineup
By securing their spot in Grand Finals, Element Mystic has proven themselves to be one of the top two teams at Gauntlet. Throughout the series, they have had some insanely clutch moments that have saved their skin. Two North Amerian Academy teams took them to Map 5 series, and Runaway nearly got the better on them on King’s Row last night. Mystic has proven to have moments of weaknesses, but their ability to read their opponents and take advantage of small misplays puts them above most other teams. Whichever team comes out of Lower Finals alive will immediately be going up against this Korean powerhouse. Element Mystic won’t make it easy on them, but one thing is for certain.
It’s going to be one hell of a night.
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