Last weekend, the second qualifier finals for Stage 2 of the U.S. Nationals played out, and with it the teams for the Stage 2 Conference finals were decided.
The Eastern Qualifier
The Eastern qualifier saw a clash of titans with Pro League teams mousesports and Cloud9 facing each other in this best of three series. After multiple attempts by mousesports to qualify for the U.S. Nationals, the surprise entry of Cloud9 into the tournament looked to make their dream all the more challenging.
Heading onto the first map on Oregon, neither team seemed able to take a lead, going round for round all the way up to overtime. Even into overtime, the fierce back and forth battle between Cloud9 and mousesports continued, leading all the way to the final round of overtime. An aggressive push into the Meeting Hall by Cloud9’s Mark assisted by FoxA was able to take the lead in the round, and despite a strong attempt by VertcL from mousesports, Cloud9 were able to secure a hardfought first map. Starting on the second map of the series, Bank, both teams looked evenly matched again with early rounds going to both sides. Cloud9 seemed to find their footing however on the defense, securing a strong lead and eventual map victory with a 6-3 scoreline. Despite the close action between both teams, Cloud9 secured a 2-0 series win and a spot in the Stage 2 Eastern Conference finals against Obey Alliance.
The Western Qualifier
In the Western qualifier, Hyper Esports faced tough opposition from Rogue, a well-known Pro League team. Rogue started the first map, Consulate, off strong with a convincing 2-0 lead. Despite the best efforts of Hyper in managing to secure the following round, the loss of Strage on Hyper in the following rounds and the subsequent 4 vs 5 led to a dominant 6-1 win for Rogue.
With the return of Strage from Hyper at the start of the second map, Oregon, Hyper Esports looked to be in a much better position, securing early rounds against Rogue. Despite the strong early rounds Hyper managed to win however, Rogue soon found their stride in the map, sweeping Hyper to a 6-2 map victory and overall 2-0 series win. With the win, Rogue secure a spot at the Stage 2 Western Conference finals facing off against Nomads.
This week of U.S. Nationals action saw both regions ending in 2-0 victories for Cloud9 and Rogue, with both advancing to the Conference finals to play for a spot at the U.S. Nationals LAN finals. While in the Western qualifier the 2-0 victory reflects the strong and dominant performance by Rogue over Hyper Esports, in the Eastern qualifier two close maps lead to the overall victory for Cloud9 over mousesports, with the first map going all the way to the final round in overtime. With the second and last qualifier of Stage 2 now finished, Cloud9 will face Obey Alliance in the Eastern Conference finals next week, while Rogue will face Nomads in the Western Conference finals. Be sure to tune into the action Friday, September 28 to catch the Stage 1 conference finals, live on the official Rainbow Six Twitch channel.
