Imperial grab final Melbourne playoffs spot over Grayhound

A big group of Brazilian fans rejoiced in the Rod Laver arena as the last Australian team was eliminated on home soil.

Imperial recovered from a 16-5 loss to countrymen paiN and took out Grayhound to qualify for the playoffs of ESL Challenger Melbourne, claiming the last avilable spot. Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo led the charge for his team, posting a 1.44 rating in a 2-0 victory, 16-8 on Inferno and 16-12 on Nuke.

The loss meant the end of the road for Grayhound, the team that represented ORDER until the organization was hit by financial problems in August. Out-of-game issues were combined with in-game ones, as the team was also forced to play the event with their former member Jordan "⁠Hatz⁠" Bajic in place of the newest arrival Declan "⁠Vexite⁠" Portelli due to roster lock issues.

FalleN finished the match with a 2.0 K/D

"If anyone needs to buy me a beer, I'm down. Or 20. Because I need a drink," Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter said in a post-match interview, having lost the final round of Nuke from a 5v3 situation to leave the Australian fans without a domestic team to support. However, a loud contingent of Brazilian supporters present in Melbourne will have a reason to come back on the final day, as Imperial and paiN are looking to challenge for the title in the four-team playoffs.

Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo, who also looked comfortable in the series and averaged a 1.33 rating, said after the game that the support his team got from the Brazilian fans was a "preview of the Rio Major," scheduled for October-November.

ESL Challenger Melbourne 2022Best of 3 ImperialMatchpage 2 0 3rd September 2022 Grayhound 16Inferno 8 16Nuke 12

Imperial	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFalleN	44 - 22	+22	75.8	1.44
Vinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoVINI	42 - 29	+13	89.0	1.33
Fernando 'fer' Alvarengafer	39 - 31	+8	89.8	1.31
Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedeschelo	38 - 31	+7	76.9	1.25
Ricardo 'boltz' Prassboltz	28 - 26	+2	63.6	1.00

Grayhound	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Joshua 'INS' PotterINS	42 - 43	-1	93.8	1.07
Simon 'Sico' WilliamsSico	32 - 37	-5	66.4	0.85
Jay 'Liazz' TregillgasLiazz	28 - 37	-9	63.8	0.81
Jordan 'Hatz' BajicHatz	20 - 41	-21	52.9	0.63
Alistair 'aliStair' JohnstonaliStair	17 - 35	-18	37.6	0.52

In the playoffs, Imperial's first challenge is Entropiq . The Russian squad failed to make the Regional Major Ranking event but is looking for redemption in Australia having defeated OG and EG White on their way to the semis. In the other semi-final, paiN will take on the surprise of the tournament Wings Up who eliminated Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković and co. to make playoffs.

Imperial #29 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaRicardo 'boltz' PrassMarcelo 'chelo' CespedesVinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo Wings Up #67 Yi 'gas' DingLiu 'lan' QiXueBing 'B1NGO' DaiZhengjie 'Martin' ZhuoJunhao 'ChildKing' Peng Joshua 'INS' Potter Age: 23 Team: Grayhound Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 963 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.65 ORDER Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo Age: 31 Team: Imperial Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1585 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.60 Declan 'Vexite' Portelli Age: 17 Team: Grayhound Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 359 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.68 EG White #57 Jonathan 'djay' DallalJonathan 'Jonji' CareyBen 'ben1337' SmithJosh 'PwnAlone' PigueWesley 'viz' Harris OG #8 Nemanja 'nexa' IsakovićAdam 'NEOFRAG' ZouharShahar 'flameZ' ShushanAbdul 'degster' GasanovMaciej 'F1KU' Miklas Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković Age: 25 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1267 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.63 Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo Age: 23 Team: Imperial Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 999 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.66 Entropiq #32 Nikolay 'mir' BityukovAleksei 'NickelBack' TrofimovVladislav 'Krad' KravchenkoAleksei 'El1an' GusevIgor 'Forester' Bezotecheskiy Jordan 'Hatz' Bajic Age: 24 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 952 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.64 paiN #33 Vinicios 'PKL' CoelhoWesley 'hardzao' LopesRodrigo 'biguzera' BittencourtFelipe 'skullz' MedeirosRomeu 'zevy' Rocco Grayhound #44 Simon 'Sico' WilliamsJay 'Liazz' TregillgasAlistair 'aliStair' JohnstonJoshua 'INS' PotterDeclan 'Vexite' Portelli