Ascent take their revenge upon Se7en, eradicating the team from 2-0 in the Lower Bracket Finals. (Badlands 2-0, Snakewater 4-0)

Se7en and Ascent rematch in the Lower Bracket Finals, a repeat from last year, where Se7en fought against EVL Gaming in the Lower Bracket Finals of the Esports Arena Rewind 2017 Invitational. With Ascent’s reformed roster plus standins on both Se7en and Ascent, the match could go either way, with the winner going up against the monolith of froyotech in the Grand Finals.

Badlands

Badlands started off competitively, with Ascent winning the first mid with a one player advantag over Se7en in the end. Ascent pushed onto Se7en’s second point and pushed into Se7en’s last with uber, but were met with a sentry and an uber, only destroy the sentry in the process. Both teams reset and Permzilla whipped out his flame thrower, deterring another uber push from Ascent. Se7en pushed back, recapturing their spire, but were crushed by a flank uber from Ascent. Ascent pushed onto last, decimating Se7en’s disconnected respawners and took the first round 1-0.

Se7en won the second mid; Drackk almost managed to catch Nursey fleeing, but Bdonski was able to kill him before he could kill the enemy medic. An uber exchange followed on mid with Ascent securing the middle point and Se7en retreating to their spire. After a flank from paddie and a force from Drackk, an uber exchange ensued that initially put Se7en at an advantage, until marmaloo began backcapping Se7en’s spire. Ascent aggressed towards Se7en’s last point and secured the second round, bumping the score 2-0.

Ascent fully wiped Se7en on the third mid, clearing their way through the middle point and Se7en’s second point. Ascent pushed into last after capturing Se7en’s spire, but were met with a heavy and a pyro who both successfully held off Ascent’s offense. Another repush nearly gave Ascent another round, but a save from Permzilla kept Se7en in the round. After a Kritz onto Bdonski by Nursey, kaidus pushed back with uber, picking up five kills, including a bottle kill onto Nursey. Se7en pushed forward, capturing middle with the help of a flank by Drackk and capturing Ascent’s spire. Se7en pushed into Ascent’s last, but were unable to convert or get a kill on the enemy medic. Ascent pushed out, but a pick onto Nursey by Thalash on Sniper gave Se7en the uber and heals advantage as they advanced onto Ascent’s last. Se7en’s push was ineffective and Ascent pushed out again, capturing their second and the middle point, before trading the middle point with Se7en afterwards. Se7en pushed forward, capturing second, but were stopped at Ascent’s last. With only one minute left, it seemed that there was no hope left for Se7en. Ascent take the first map of Badlands 2-0.

Snakewater

Going into Snakewater, Se7en championed the first mid fight, venturing forward onto Ascent’s second point. Se7en and Ascent traded frags, including two drops by Thalash; one on spy and one on sniper. Both teams traded points and a stalemate ensued between both teams. Ascent was almost able to capture Se7en’s last, with nearly all of the time on the point capped. A drop onto Raymon afterwards gave Ascent the opportunity after ninteen minutes. Ascent pushed in, dissecting Se7en and leaving only Raymon alive on point, who was cleaned up and Ascent captured Se7en’s last point, giving them a point after nearly twenty minutes.

The second round started strong for Ascent, with the team breezing through the mid and second point of Se7en. A subsequent push onto last by Ascent was held off by Se7en, but a repush by Se7en proved to be fatal, as the high damage output by Ascent not only dropped Raymon, but most of Se7en’s players fell to Ascent’s offense and Ascent captured the last point, putting them up 2-0.

Se7en were now down two points with only six minutes to go and one loss away from being eliminated from Esports Arena’s Rewind II. Se7en began aggressing at the start of the third round, but a poor uber from Raymon allowed a repush from Ascent. Ascent pushed forward onto second and nearly onto last, but Se7en were able to keep them out of their third point. A repush from Ascent secured their third point however, and with only three minutes left, Se7en were in crunch time.

A clean wipe by Ascent onto Se7en didn’t help Se7en’s plight, as the American team pushed forward onto the Europeans’ last point. After a failed push from Ascent and frolicking in deadtime, Ascent capped the last point for the fourth time and secured their victory, 4-0 over Se7en. Se7en were eliminated in a 2-0 series by Ascent.

Ascent will move onto the Grand Finals, where they will face off against froyotech. Se7en will be going home across the pond to an unfortunate loss, taking with them 15% of the prize pool, which currently projected to be $2,545.10