With just 3 weeks until 13 teams of smelly gamers meet up in Columbus Ohio for LAN 2, the inaugural Media Cup was set up to be one of the final events to prep for the big event. An amazing 11 team turnout forced the event into an unexpected day 2. With a fresh, bo1 double elimination format, it gave every team a chance to make a run, and it gave us some great matches and unexpected results. The finals will take place Wednesday, October 8th at 10PM EST on GOTN. You can also rewatch the action HERE

Unknown Players With Strong Showing

UP made a bit of noise on Sunday night with a respectable fourth place finish in the cup that featured 11 LAN teams. After taking down strokers in round 1, NA’s golfing union had an impressive win over +forward on Matmata in UB2. Matmata, widely considered to be UP’s best map, proved to be just that, as thyey pulled off a close victory over the tournaments 3rd seed, sending them to the lower bracket. That moved them forward to UB 3, where they played LAN1 champs bricked, which they were unable to win. In LB 3, UP took on a recently surging goons, who has been taking maps off some of the top teams in officials. Impressively, they made quick work of goons, 13-4 on Dawnville off the back of a sixxer 25.

REGINALD ON THE BOARD; BRACKET CHAOS

We haven’t had the pleasure of seeing this group yet in an official, but they started off a bang! in Media Cup 1. The boys got off to a hot start in their first official, taking down a dark horse empyrean team, who were coming off a top 4 finish in nightcup 12. Elsewhere in UB 1, Roll The Dice put together an impressive performance, taking down Nephilim 13-5. The 11 team bracket, then ended up causing some chaos, as the seeds realigned in the lower bracket, where Nephilim avenged their UB loss with a strong win over Reginald 13-9, and emp did the same, taking down Roll The Dice 13-10, both on Burgundy.

In other notable LB matches, Goons dominated emp on Burgundy on what most would have considered to be a close match. Goons started hot on Axis, and emp just couldn’t seem to get anything going despite 7 allied plants, and goons made them pay with solid retakes. In LB 3, UP got their reward for beating +forward earlier in the day, by avoiding Janitorz in the bracket. They took down goons in style 13-4, while +forward lost to Janitorz 13-6, wrapping up a disappointing day for them, finishing 5/6.

Upper Bracket Finals

Bricked were “on one” as the kids say on Sunday. After cruising past reginald 13-2, and UP 13-7, they took on x6 in the Upper Bracket Finals. In the LAN1 finals rematch, the bans landed the teams on Toujane, which had previously been somewhat of a “neutral” map for both of these teams. The action unfolded over on GOTN, where Bricked got off to a strong 9-3 half on Axis. The lead was too much to overcome, and bricked closed it out.

Lower Bracket Finals

After falling to x6 in UB round 3, Janitorz put together two impressive victories over +forward and UP, 13-6 a piece on dawnville and matmata. Their prize, a rematch with x6 for 3rd place. In what turned out to be nicknamed the “burgundy cup” which had about 5 straight matches on the map earlier in the day, there was no map more fitting for the finish. The two teams duked it out on breakout earlier in the day, but locked horns on Burgundy to end the night.

Janitorz got off to a strong start on allies, taking an early 4-1 lead. However, that quickly changed as x6 were able to rattle off 6 of the last 7 rounds on Axis to go into the half with a 7-5 lead. Allies was just as much of a battle, as the match ended 13-10, in what ended up being the hostage & tanaka show.