SVIFT NA took down their avian counterparts in the form of black swan in a 2-0 series, moving them to the Lower Round of 4. (4-0 Product, 5-1 Gullywash)

SVIFT NA and black swan face off in the Lower Round of 6, where they decide which team will go home and which team will continue on to face Ascent in the Lower Round of 4. With both teams having met before in ESEA Invite, the tensions are high and black swan look to take down the monolith of the SVIFT Empire.

Product

The first map of Product began with the initial point conflict, with black swan successfully winning in part thanks to a bomb onto yight and skeez by froot. However, SVIFT NA took the point back as soon as its players respawned, pushing black swan to their spawn. A close hold by SVIFT NA denied most aggression, but an uber push paired with a flank on cliff pushed SVIFT NA out of black swan’s territory and gain black swan the point once again. The point would be traded, pushing SVIFT NA into overtime and black swan on the point. black swan held on for life with only one minute left on their timer, but SVIFT NA swiftly captured the point and win the first round, giving them the head start 1-0.

SVIFT NA wiped the black swan squad immediately at the first conflict and successfully held off a four man sacrifice play from black swan. An uber exchange would gain black swan no ground with SVIFT NA slowly picking black swan apart. black swan reformed, pushing again with a kill on yight and skeez, easily swooping down and taking the point back. The point traded hands, but black swan were able to stand their ground admirably well for a short period of time. Eventually, SVIFT NA’s DM shined through and they took the point and the timer, taking the second round 2-0.

With yight going down at the mid once again, black swan won the first capture once again. An uber push into SVIFT NA by black swan proved to be unsuccessful, losing black swan the point and their scouts. Aggression from SVIFT NA continued to keep black swan at bay, dealing large damage to the team and slowly picking off players. black swan pushed with aggression of their own, taking the point, but retaliation from SVIFT NA would leave only two soldiers on SVIFT NA and a full wipe on black swan. With two more swaps, eventually SVIFT NA took the third round once again, bumping to 3-0; match point for SVIFT NA.

With only the loss of zilly, SVIFT NA wiped the entire team of black swan at the opening fight once again, taking the point first. A bomb from trippa and a snipe from midas would drop skeez, giving black swan the uber advantage. However, a bomb from aim would kill charis with 99% ubercharge, degating that previous pick. black swan were still able to take the point, but SVIFT NA once again took it back once their players had respawned. black swan repushed, trading the point before SVIFT NA pushed themselves, taking the point as well. With SVIFT NA’s timer having only twenty seconds left, black swan were able to secure the point. With over one minute on their own timer, it was do or die for black swan. Unfortunately, damage from yight and zilly wiped any aggression from black swan, securing SVIFT NA their fourth consecutive round and the first map, 4-0.

Gullywash

Gullywash began immediately afterwards; with SVIFT NA up one map, black swan were only one map away from being eliminated from Esports Arena’s Rewind II. The first mid went the way of SVIFT NA, with a full wipe on the side of black swan. Aggression from zilly in river would open a pathway for SVIFT NA to push, giving them the first round with little resistance.

The second round went similarly, with SVIFT NA swiftly taking the middle and second point from black swan. A spy play from zilly only managed to take down midas as sniper, ultimately creating no opportunities and SVIFT NA resetting. The game fell into a stalemate and botmode switching to sniper to create a situation where SVIFT NA could push. However, jynxed would be the first to create a situation, dropping skeez in shutter and giving black swan full uber advantage. black swan pushed to mid, taking the second and middle points in the process. But strong plays from yight wiped nearly every black swan player from their offensive push, giving SVIFT NA control of mid and second. The stalemate on last continued, with a cap from botmode from river eventually giving SVIFT NA their second round, bumping the score 2-0.

black swan were forced to concede the mid fight, but a scrappy fight at black swan’s second left SVIFT NA crippled, allowing black swan to just barely capture the middle point, which would once again be taken back by SVIFT NA’s respawners. An uber exchange allowed black swan to move into mid, eventually making their way to SVIFT NA’s second point. At the second point, SVIFT NA met black swan and decimated black swan’s players, rolling all the way from their second to black swan’s last, increasing their lead to three points, 3-0.

Yet another mid victory on the side of SVIFT NA played out, with just botmode and zilly alive after a wipe on the side of black swan. An poor uber exchange by SVIFT NA initially gave black swan the upper hand at choke, but black swan were wiped by SVIFT NA’s DM, giving SVIFT NA the second point and eventually the last point, bumping black swan’s deficit to four points.

black swan with four points down and only eight minutes remaining, won their second mid in the fifth round of Gullywash, pushing onto SVIFT NA’s second in the process. A stalemate played out, eventually leading to a black swan push. black swan were unable to convert into a round win, but a drop onto skeez gave black swan the uber advantage to repush. black swan pushed in with uber, attempting to finally take a round for themselves, but were unable to capture the last point. A repush from black swan finally found them a round, lowering black swan’s point difference to three with the score of 4-1.

With three minutes remaining and the need for three more points to push the map into overtime, black swan needed to win the next mid to have any chance to keep their dreams in Santa Ana alive. Unfortunately, aggression on the side of SVIFT NA pushed through with black swan losing the mid, then their second, and finally their last point, granting SVIFT NA the second map 5-1, and SVIFT NA winning the full series 2-0.

SVIFT NA will move onto the Lower Round of 4, where they will face off against Ascent, a team they have had a small rivalry with, taking the team down in the playoffs of ESEA Season 26’s Invite division. black swan are eliminated from Rewind II, taking home 2.7% of the prize pool, currently projected to be $456.63.