Pop Flash – Day 2 Recap

The second day of Pop Flash has seen two teams exit the event and two teams make their way to the playoffs. Sentinels continue to show strong form, while TSM remain shaky. We might be set for a match between these two in the Semi Finals already. 

CLOUD9 DOMINATE & TSM ARE BACK

In the Winners’ Match, C9 quickly got onto a sizeable lead. In the 4th round, Dignitas managed to strike back with an elimination victory, but that was all that they could muster. As Mitch “mitch” Semago tore through his opposition, Cloud9 led into the second half with an 11-1 advantage. They quickly got the remaining two rounds on the board, with mitch taking out 19 players for a 3.8 KDR. The former CSGO pro is quickly growing into one of the most proficient damage dealers in North America. On Ascent, Dignitas finally managed to win a pistol round and got a few rounds on the board. However, with Daniel “vice” Kim joining mitch in their mission to delete Dignitas from the server, the team soon succeeded on a 13-7 scoreline.

After their blowout loss in the Opening Match, there were a lot of question marks around TSM’s readiness at this event. They were just two maps away from exiting Pop Flash entirely, which may have brought some of their fire back. TSM still didn’t play in dominant fashion, but they surpassed Gen.G nonetheless. On Bind, Matthew “Wardell” Yu and Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik led the charge in a 13-9 victory. The Canadian duo each achieved 20 kills and an ADR above 150. Leading onto Haven, Dignitas’ defense would have to be watertight in order to survive the map. But it wasn’t, and Taylor “drone” Johnson broke through it with relative ease. On a  13-10 scoreline, TSM managed to surpass Gen.G.

SENTINELS TO PLAYOFFS, T1 OUT

T1 have really given this their all and we can’t fault them for not playing to their level with a stand-in. David “eeiu” Vucenovic tried to give his best impression of Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham, but ultimately he couldn’t perform as well. There’s no shame in that for the T1 Academy player. All things considered, T1 made a real stand. On the defense of Split, they got 9 rounds on the board. Failing on the attack, however, they lost their lead one by one until the teams reached overtime. There, they narrowly set themselves on top.

But as Pujan “FNS” Mehta and his boys kicked into a higher gear, they were unable to secure the follow-up map. Ascent and Haven both went in the favor of Envy, who finally got a win on the board for themselves. Jake “kaboose” McDonald and FNS in particular made a strong showing, with the latter securing 64 kills overall.

Sentinels achieved a repeat victory over Immortals. Back at the FaZe Clan Invitational, they had already locked in a comfortable win over the squad. Here at Pop Flash, Sentinels went a similar route. On Bind and Split, Jay “sinatraa” Wong put up a total of 54 kills, being way ahead of any other player on the server. Hunter “sick” Mims’ Sage proved to be quite impactful as well, leading the team to 13-10 and and 13-7 victories. They are now through to the playoffs.

TSM VS. SENTINELS IN THE SEMIS?

TSM live to fight another day. Unfortunately for them, however, they are bound to face Dignitas again for a a slot in the playoffs. If they have worked on the issues that have led them to falter against Dignitas earlier on, they should be fine. Their result against Gen.G definitely points towards them getting their act together.

Sentinels secured the first place seed of Group B. If TSM manage to win the Decider of Group B, we will see these two teams clash in the Semi Finals already. Fortunately for the two, the Double-Elimination format gives them another lifeline. Still, should TSM win their next match, we will see one of the two drop into the Lower Bracket early on.