QuantumX wins MISS-CS Sawasdee Series #2

The second iteration of the MISS-CS Sawasdee Series has come to a close and it was QuantumX who cleared the single-elimination bracket to secure a title win and a cash prize of $1,500 USD. The tournament and its qualifiers were both held online. Here's a quick look at how things went down in the main event.

Quarter-finals

• The opening game was a pretty quick one. LookingForOrg (LFO), from the Thai Qualifier took on HoneyHustlers from the Myanmar Qualifier. The best of three began on Mirage and LFO put up a flawless 12-0 CT-side, leaving HoneyHustlers with an impossible comeback to scale. The latter conceded Mirage 2-13 after clawing back a couple of rounds in the second half, avoiding the 13-0 embarrassment. HoneyHustlers barely put up a fight on Dust2 as LFO secured another 13-2 win, wrapping the series 2-0 and eliminating Honey Hustlers.

• Cosmic Serpents started their campaign with a 2-1 win over Oasis Gaming. After a strong 9-3 T-side on the opening map, Ancient, Cosmic Serpents secured a 13-4 win to go 1-0 up in the series. Oasis Gaming were nearly down and out when Cosmic Serpents handed them a 4-8 disadvantage on the T-side of Inferno but a solid CT-side showing, netting Oasis Gaming a 13-10 win on Inferno and a way back into the series. However, they fell flat on the T-side of Mirage after putting up a competitive first half as Cosmic Serpents closed the decider 13-9 and the series 2-1.

• XDM took down Rising Flame in the third quarter-final, as both Burmese teams ended their tournament in the first round. After a solid 9-2 T-side on Dust2, XDM nearly fumbled the game as Rising Flame clawed back seven rounds in the second half. The Chinese side recovered and closed Dust2 13-10. XDM put up yet another 9-3 half on Mirage but did not let Rising Flame back into the game, closing the map 13-3 and eliminating Rising Flame.

• In the last quarter-final, QuantumX put up a couple of 13-7's against MISS-CSS to secure a clean 2-0 series win and advance to the semi-final. On both occasions, MISS-CS kept things competitive in the first half, keeping the round difference at just two and then folded under pressure in the second half.

Semi-finals

• LookingForOrg (LFO) carried their form from the first round and wiped out Cosmic Serpents with a 13-4 win on Nuke off of a 9-3 CT-side showing but the Chinese side answered back with a 13-10 win on Anubis to level the series. The decider took us to Inferno where Cosmic Serpents conceded a 10-13 loss after splitting the first half 6-6.

• In the second semi-final, XDM were handed a 2-10 deficit on Overpass as QuantumX started the series with a 13-5 win. The Chinese side came back on Dust2 with a stunning 13-1 win to level the series. However, XDM could not keep the momentum going and suffered a 9-13 defeat in the decider, Ancient after QuantumX handed them a crushing 3-9 disadvantage in the first half.

Grand-final

Both grand-finalists, QuantumX and LookingForOrg (LFO) started their tournament with clean 2-0 wins in the quarter-finals but were humbled in the semis before they recovered and reclaimed their form. The best-of-five grand-final was as close as can be with teams trading maps back and forth. The series started on Inferno as QuantumX drew first blood with a 13-10 win. LFO tied the series with a narrow 13-11 win on Mirage, only for QuantumX to reclaim their lead with a convincing 13-7 win on Overpass off of a near-flawless CT-side.

QuantumX stood just five rounds away from closing the grand-final after securing an 8-4 lead on the CT-side of Nuke but LFO scaled an impressive comeback to steal Nuke 13-11 and level the series again at 2-2, taking the match to the decider. Dust2 was anyone's map right until the very end but QuantumX skipped across the line 13-10 to secure a 3-2 win in the grand-final.

By securing a title win, QuantumX have bagged a cash prize of $1,500 USD while LookingForOrg and Cosmic Serpents were handed cash prizes of $500 USD and $300 USD for their runner-up and runner statuses.