TSM secure a spot in EPL Season 5

The two teams played the final match of the North American division of ESEA Premier in a LAN environment at ESL's studios in Burbank, California - preceding the ESEA Global Challenge LAN.

With an ESL Pro League Season 5 spot on the line, TSM were forced to use their old lineup consisting of Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta and Kory "⁠SEMPHIS⁠" Friesen due to ESEA roster rules.

The fact that they were using an already broken up lineup didn't look like a big issue for TSM though, as Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken and the removed SEMPHIS tore through Rush on Mirage, finishing the map with a comfortable 16-9 scoreline.

Moving on to Overpass, Rush's pick, it was initially looking like a similar story as TSM got a big lead without much pushback. Rush quickly found themselves 14-6 down, but managed to claw their way back into the match thanks to some aggressive CT side play and crucial errors by their opponents. 

After completing the comeback in overtime, Rush tied the score at 1-1 and pushed the series to the third map - Cobblestone.

The medieval castle-themed map didn't start well for Rush as they once again had a slow opening, ending the CT half 10-5 down. With Daniel "⁠virtus⁠" Carrillo's clutches holding them in the match little longer, Derrick "⁠LILMAN⁠" Boyne and co. got to nine rounds before ultimately falling to TSM.

ESEA MDL Season 23 North America FinalsBest of 3

TSM

Matchpage

2

1

6th January 2017

Rush

16

Mirage

9

16

Overpass

19

16

Cobblestone

9

TSM	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	75 - 49	+26	86.7	78.8%	1.43
Hunter 'SicK' MimsSicK	68 - 57	+11	80.2	77.6%	1.21
Skyler 'Relyks' WeaverRelyks	65 - 57	+8	82.8	72.9%	1.14
Pujan 'FNS' MehtaFNS	54 - 54	0	73.5	78.8%	1.10
Kory 'SEMPHIS' FriesenSEMPHIS	60 - 68	-8	80.6	74.1%	1.06

Rush	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Derrick 'LILMAN' BoyneLILMAN	65 - 65	0	81.8	68.2%	1.12
Matt 'Pollo' WilsonPollo	68 - 67	+1	82.4	69.4%	1.09
Daniel 'virtus' Carrillovirtus	56 - 64	-8	66.5	72.9%	0.97
Kyuhyun 'blade' William Uhmblade	52 - 65	-13	70.5	61.2%	0.85
David 'Toy' HanToy	44 - 61	-17	64.4	68.2%	0.83

This means Rush will be playing the rest of the EPL relegation stage online, with the following matchups to be played:

Selfless	vs. Luminosity
Splyce	vs. Rush

HEROIC vs. Rogue

PENTA vs. LDLC

With this result and Kinguin beating LDLC earlier today, the groups for ESEA Season 23 Global Challenge, that starts tomorrow, will be as follows:

Group A	Group B
TSM	Kinguin
LDLC	Rush
Bravado	Tainted Minds
Rogue	Muffin Lightning

Professeur writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter.