In the grand finals of the Invite playoffs, froyotech beat Ascent 2-0 in the first series (5-4 Process, 4-3 Product) and 2-0 in the second series (5-1 Gullywash, 5-1 Sunshine) to win ESEA Season 19.
After beating $5 previously that night to secure their spot in the grand finals, FROYO came in needing to win two best-of-three series to secure the championship, while Ascent needed only one.
The first series began on Process. FROYO starts out strong by taking the first mid, but are unable to progress as both teams trade mid. FROYO then attempt to push through lobby to last, but are destroyed by Ascent, who attempts to push back to second, but a backcap by clockwork draws them back and allows the rest of FROYO to push back in to secure the round. Ascent responds on the next mid by wiping FROYO, but fail a last push and get pushed all the way to last. FROYO attempts to push last a few times before finally punching it in to take another round and put their lead at 2-0.
FROYO come into the third round looking strong with a mid win, but Ascent quickly regroup and aggressively push all the way to last to put their first round on the board. With only a few minutes left in the half, Ascent takes the fourth mid and onto second, but FROYO responds with a strong defense and pushes Ascent all the way back to second. However, they wipe on their subsequent push, allowing Ascent to push back and secure the round to tie up the score at 2-2 with less than a minute left, not enough time for either team to score before the half ended.
Not to be deterred by their collapse at the end of the first half, FROYO comes out and wipes Ascent on the first mid of the second half, pushing quickly into last to take the round. They also secure the next mid despite losing players early and take second without much contest. Ascent attempts to repush, but lose several players in the process and give FROYO the round to put them on match point at 4-2.
With the map on the line, Ascent came out aggressive and picked up the next mid handily. They are met with resistance pushing into second, but clean up enough of it to take it easily and push into last to pull within one round. Ascent then takes the next mid and win an uber fight to take second. The game then stalemates as both teams look for an opening pick, and Ascent eventually gets one on the FROYO demo, pushing into last with an uber to take the round and tie the score once again.
In the final round, the mid is closely fought, but Ascent takes it. However, the round ends up back-and-forth as both teams trade point several times. Eventually, FROYO push into last with little time remaining in the half and manage to secure the round, giving them the victory on Process 5-4.
The next map of the series was the only King of the Hill map in the rotation - Product. FROYO started off by getting a pick on Ascent's medic, and uses that to get the key initial capture. Both teams traded the point a few times and run their time down, but FROYO managed to come in after Ascent took the capture to retake the point and finish their time to take the first round. The next mid also goes to FROYO, who manage to run down over a minute before getting pushed back. Both teams then trade the point back and forth, but a key drop by shade earlier in the round gives Ascent the advantage they need to take the round and even the score.
FROYO take the mid in the third round, and back-and-forth trades of the point eventually leave FROYO with an uber advantage and the point with 30 seconds left on the clock, forcing Ascent to push in a failed attempt to save the round. The next round sees Ascent take the point first but get pushed back early in the round, allowing FROYO to hold aggressively. Both teams then trade the point several times, but Ascent take the point last and hold FROYO back in overtime to tie the score once again. The final round of the half begins evenly matched for both teams, but FROYO eventually secures the point with one minute left on their clock and holds it for the round and a narrow lead 3-2 going into halftime.
Ascent came in after halftime strongly, holding off FROYO for much longer. FROYO eventually caps and gets some time on the clock, but strong performance from shrugger help Ascent to take the round and even the score. In the final round, FROYO take the point early, but Ascent are able to take the point and once again hold it for long periods. Eventually, FROYO caps the point in overtime, needing to hold it for over a minute to win the round. Despite Ascent only needing to cap the point to win, FROYO do the unthinkable and secure the round to take Product 4-3.
With FROYO winning the series 2-0, they eliminated Ascent's upper bracket advantage, sending the grand finals to another best-of-three to decide the champion. However, technical issues with ESEA forced this concluding series to be postponed a few nights.
The second series begins on Gullywash. Ascent begins with a dominant win on mid, but are unable to convert their last push, allowing FROYO to push back out. Ascent puts up some resistance as FROYO pushes into mid and second, but ultimately FROYO manages to pick TheFragile, giving them an uber advantage to push into last and take the first round. The second mid goes much better for FROYO, countering the aggression from Ascent, but they lose the fight on second despite getting an early uber pop out of Ascent. However, both teams go back and forth, failing several last pushes, but FROYO eventually aggressively push from mid to last and take the round. The third round ends with a perfect mid win by FROYO, who takes the round with full uber advantage to end the half 3-0.
The second half began with yet another dominant mid by FROYO, who roll straight into last again for another round win to put another round on the board. Not to be discouraged, though, Ascent comes back with a dominant mid win of their own, pushing FROYO back to their last. However, their push with uber gets stuffed by a pyro, dropping TheFragile as they attempt to retreat. Ascent then gets several attempts to push last as FROYO fails to hold their ground after pushing out, finally converting one to take their first round. On the sixth mid, FROYO gets the mid and forces TheFragile to pop, but are forced to pop going into second. A messy fight sees both medics going down, but FROYO advances enough to take the point and the round to win Gullywash 5-1.
The next map of the series was Sunshine. FROYO takes the first mid, but are unable to push into second, leading to points being traded back and forth. Eventually, FROYO gets a great push onto second with four picks, allowing them to roll into last and grab the first round. The second mid is a dominant win for FROYO, allowing FROYO to roll into last for another round. FROYO also takes the next mid dominantly, but fail their push into last, allowing Ascent to push back out and claw their way to FROYO's last. However, they fail two opportunities to push into last, and FROYO finally comes all the way back and rolls into last to take the round and end the half at 3-0.
FROYO continues their momentum into the second half, taking a very dominant mid, but they are unable to roll into last, giving Ascent the opportunity to push them back to last and finally win a round. They take this momentum into the next mid, taking it and wiping FROYO, but they then fail their push into last, and FROYO seize the opportunity to push them all the way back, taking the round and putting themselves on championship point. FROYO then take the next mid dominantly, and despite losing their first attempt to push last, they wipe Ascent on their push back out to secure them an easy last push, taking the point and winning the map, series, and championship 5-1 on Sunshine.