In the first round of the lower bracket of the ESEA Season 19 Invite playoffs, The Five Dollar Club took down Street Hoops eSports 2-0 (5-1 Snakewater, 5-3 Badlands) to move on the lower bracket final.
The first map of the night was Snakewater. Both teams came out strong on the initial mid, which Street Hoops eventually took. However, a failed push onto second forced them all the way back to last. $5 wiped on the subsequent push, though, allowing Street Hoops to push back out with a full uber advantage, and after getting a drop from mason, take the first round.
The next mid saw $5 wipe Street Hoops and roll the round to tie up the score. After a very long mid, the third round ended up going back and forth with several points traded until $5 managed to wipe Street Hoops while pushing their second point, allowing them to roll into last to take the round and the lead. The fourth round began with $5 heavily losing, but they manage to hold off the last push and then win two more fights in order to seal the round in their favor and end the half up 3-1.
The second half began with a very long round filled with constant back-and-forth action. Despite several great plays by alfa on sniper, however, Street Hoops lose the round and go down 4-1 with less than 10 minutes left in the half. Street Hoops then goes aggressive in the next round, but lose mid handily and eventually the round after a brief struggle on second. This ends Snakewater in favor of $5 5-1.
The second map of the series was Badlands. $5 started off strong in the first mid with a quick cap, and manage a backcap through an aggressive Street Hoops defense, giving them the first round. Street Hoops retorted with a mid win in the next round and a great flank play on second that led to $5 wiping, allowing them to take the round and tie the score. The third round sees Street Hoops take mid without losing a single player, but they are unable to convert on their push into last. Despite losing cozen on the retreat, they win the fight and take the round to gain a lead at 2-1.
Street Hoops also manages to take the next mid, but the round ends up being a back-and-forth affair with both teams holding strong several times. $5 eventually wins the round to tie the score up once again. In the final round of the half, Street Hoops takes mid, but fail several pushes into last before finally taking it to end the half 3-2 in their favor.
$5 recovered during the second half, taking both the first and second round in similar fashion by winning mid, pushing last and then backing off before repushing to get the cap and the round. This put them in the lead at 4-3 with over 20 minutes left in the half.
The eighth round of the game saw $5 take mid and push last before retreating yet again. This time, Street Hoops pushed out of last aggressively in an attempt to retake second, but Mangachu was able to get behind and get the final capture to end Badlands 5-3, resulting in $5 winning the series 2-0 and advancing to the lower bracket final to play the loser of the upcoming upper bracket final between Ascent and froyotech.