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Bitter Disappointments, Strong Victories: NA VCL Week 5 Day 3 Summary Recap
And they’re out…
The North America (NA) Challenger League 2023 is comprised of 12 teams competing over the course of 2 splits during the year. The first split, set to run from the 1st of Feb until the 17th of Mar, will culminate in attendance to the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
Breath of air for Oxygen as they surge ahead with another win over Turtle Troops. G2 retained their position at the head of the pack with yet another win over Shopify (who have continued to struggle at the bottom of Group A).
This marks the final day of the NA VCL regular season for Split 1. Next up, MSI will begin on the 22nd of Mar, featuring the top eight teams.
Here is everything you may have missed from Week 5 Day 3 of the NA VCL:
Current NA VCL Standings (Week 5)
NA VCL Week 5 Day 3 Match Results
Turtle Troop vs Oxygen Esports [1-2]
Turtle began the series with their own map pick of Lotus. They began well, with a clean Defense start that had well-polished retakes.Of especial note was their use of Harbor’s Cascades to section off parts in their retake executions.
The half ended 5-7 however, as Oxygen began ramping up their offensive. Despite the side swap, Oxygen kept their foot on the pedal and claimed another four rounds to make it 5-11 before Turtle took the last 7 of the 8 rounds to force overtime. Turtle’s last minute clutch allowed them to close out their own map pick 14-12.
Next, Oxygen took the series to Ascent, where Turtle showed their initial comfort on the staple map as well. The first half ended 8-4 in favor of Turtles, but like the previous, the game was forced into overtime, where this time, the clash went on far longer with a steady back and forth that saw Oxygen eke out ahead 17-15.
Now with both teams having won their respective map picks, the series went to a decider map, Split. On it, the map was initially well contested from both sides, ending in a 6-6 first half. However, once the side swap came through, the Turtle’s ran out of gas and Oxygen surged ahead to a 13-9 win.
Strafe Player of the Series: OXY pwny
G2 Esports vs Shopify Rebellion [2-0]
Long gone are the praises for Shopify. The initial hype and excitement around the experienced roster has failed to bear fruit as they fall to the bottom of Group A with a 1-4 record.
The series began on Shopify’s map pick of Icebox, however, the game was a hard struggle for the Shopify side from the start. G2 took 8 straight rounds before SR managed to win their 1st. The half ended 10-2, and despite a slight return to form for SR, it was too large of a gap to come back from. G2 took the first map 13-8.
G2 took the second map of the series to Split, one of their comfort picks with this roster. The first half was already heavily contested for Shopify, with G2 taking an 8-4 half on their Attack side. On Attack, SR struggled to make ground onto the sites, as G2 held firm, and their stars shone with multiple multi-kills that killed any hope SR had of coming back into the game. G2 took Split 13-4.
Strafe Player of the Series: G2 OXY
Notable Stats from Week 5 of NA VCL
- Thanks to his final week’s performance, “Kanpeki” has secured first place rating in the NA VCL Split 1, finishing ahead of M80 “koalanoob”
- Entry machines; Moist’s “sym” holds the current record for most First Bloods at the end of the regular season, with 70. However, “pwny” and “koalanoob” hold second and third place respectively. Moreover, whilst he had the highest number of First Bloods, he has the lowest differential of +12 (First Kill-First Death). “Pwny” sits at +13 and “koalanoob” sits at a whopping +37.
Image credit: Knights Arena