Tainted Minds win AEM S1 Finals

The two-day Australian event took place in the weekend with eight teams in attendance and $9,000 AUD (~$6,705) in prize pool. The teams were split into two groups, utilising a notorious best-of-three round-robin format.

In the morning group, Legacy OCE went 3-0 and comfortably secured their playoffs spot. Peter "⁠BL1TZ⁠" Athanasatos' Funky Monkeys managed to grab the second spot, after Riotous Raccoons gave them a run for their money. Dark Sided finished on top of the afternoon group convincingly, followed by Tainted Minds, who survived their last match of day 1, defeating Skyfire 2-1.

Tainted Minds return to winning ways, as they claim the first AEM title

Heading into the playoffs, Jesse "⁠InfrequeNt⁠" Barker's crew overcame Legacy OCE from behind in the first semis 2-1, despite Matthew "⁠mattcd⁠" Lenard's efforts to prevent the inevitable outcome, who had the highest rating (1.42) at the event. Meanwhile, Dark Sided took care of Funky Monkeys 2-1 in the other semi-final, following a surprising 6-16 defeat on their pick in the second map, Cache.

The grand final kicked off with a crazy triple overtime on the first map, Mirage, which went in the way of Matthew "⁠Texta⁠" O'Rourke's side 25-23, where he dropped 50 frags on the server. Unfortunately, Dark Sided lost their chance to finish off their opponent after a 15-13 lead on Overpass, as Dylan "⁠kyoto⁠" Brown's men clinched the second map 19-17. A team effort from Tainted Minds on the CT side, sealed the deal on Inferno 16-6, as they successfully extracted their revenge in the three-map thriller, 2-1.

Australian Esports Masters Season 1 FinalsBest of 3

Tainted Minds

Matchpage

2

1

2nd July 2017

Dark Sided

23

Mirage

25

19

Overpass

17

16

Inferno

6

Tainted Minds	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Dylan 'kyoto' Brownkyoto	88 - 63	+25	79.8	78.3%	1.25
Mike 'ap0c' Aliferisap0c	75 - 71	+4	87.5	67.0%	1.15
Connor 'chuch' Morganchuch	70 - 77	-7	79.6	72.6%	1.04
Chris 'ofnu' Hanleyofnu	73 - 71	+2	70.4	65.1%	0.97
Jesse 'InfrequeNt' BarkerInfrequeNt	65 - 66	-1	65.2	70.8%	0.97

Dark Sided	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Matthew 'Texta' O'RourkeTexta	79 - 81	-2	82.4	70.8%	1.09
Mitchell 'Sync' DaleSync	73 - 70	+3	69.5	70.8%	1.07
Sam 'flickz' Jonesflickz	72 - 72	0	75.7	72.6%	1.05
Ollie 'DickStacy' TierneyDickStacy	65 - 73	-8	71.7	67.9%	1.01
Willem 'badger' Clarkebadger	59 - 75	-16	63.1	66.0%	0.85

Australian Esports Masters Season 1 Final Standings:

1. Tainted Minds - $3,000 AUD (~$2,275)
2. Dark Sided - $2,000 AUD (~$1,515)
3-4. Legacy OCE - $1,000 AUD (~$760)
3-4. Funky Monkeys - $1,000 AUD (~$760)
5-8. AVANT - $500 AUD (~$380)
5-8. Riotous Raccoons - $500 AUD (~$380)
5-8. Skyfire - $500 AUD (~$380)
5-8. Tainted Black - $500 AUD (~$380)

Photo credit: PGTV Media's dogryan100