Grayhound condemn 00NATION to last chance bracket

Grayhound claim a long overdue victory against international competition.

Grayhound defeated 00NATION in the lower bracket of ESL Pro League S17 with a 2-1 scoreline. The Brazilians drew first blood on Mirage after coming back from 5-13 down to win 16-14, before Grayhound won on Ancient (16-12) and Inferno (16-12).

Grayhound's win means they have claimed their first victory against international competition since November 1, when they defeated Cloud9 in the IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage. They are now set to face off against Ninjas in Pyjamas in another tough test for the majority-Australian side on Friday at 19:30 .

00NATION are now set to face Rooster in the 8th-place decider match on Saturday. The Brazilian squad has disappointingly not posted a victory yet, but it is worth noting they are playing without IGL Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo and using youngster Leonardo "⁠n9xtz⁠" Santos in his stead.

00NATION began the series with a pistol round and conversion on Mirage, but Grayhound were quick to tie up the scores at 3-3 after getting their money under control. The majority-Australian squad showed no signs of stopping and their quick and decisive gameplay netted them five more rounds before 00NATION were able to answer. The Brazilians got two more in the half courtesy of Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David, who put on a vintage performance and averaged 121 ADR in the first half. He was the only player from the team to provide any meaningful resistance, meaning Grayhound went into their defense 10-5 up.

A pistol-round win for Grayhound meant they were soon 13-5 up, and their win looked to be just a matter of time. 00NATION, however, showed great tenacity and ground away at the deficit round after round, streaking an incredible eight rounds in a row to tie up the scores at 13-13. With his team's morale broken, Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston stepped up with a 1vs3 clutch to get them back into the lead, but it wasn't to be. 00NATION returned to winning ways straight away and tied up the scores at 14-14, before winning the two required to close out the map in regulation and move the series on to their pick of Ancient.

Ancient served up another quick start on the CT side for Grayhound, but they were again quickly reeled in by 00NATION at 4-4. 00NATION were a cut above their opponents and manipulated rotations in several rounds, with their individuals bailing them out of situations when that failed to work out. 00NATION won 10 in a row in a dominant display that ended 10-5 in their favor.

Grayhound won their second pistol of the map to give themselves a chance at a comeback, and they made the most of it as they quickly tied up the scores at 10-10. But just as it was looking good for them, 00NATION stopped their streak with two rounds of their own to retake the lead. Unlike Mirage, Grayhound were able to stop the rot and return to winning ways despite some difficulties, such as needing Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter to clutch out a 1vs1 against a 00NATION eco. They did enough to force out a decider, running out 16-12 winners on Ancient.

Grayhound needed a third map to finally put together a good CT side, despite getting a less-than-ideal start. They lost the second-round force buy and found themselves 2-4 down before putting together a five-round streak. Their confident playstyle and good individual level meant their aggressive pushes worked out, and the scoreline soon read 7-4 in their favor. Some economic shortcomings for the Oceanic team meant 00NATION got a pair of rounds, but Grayhound still went into the second half three ahead.

Another pistol round for Grayhound meant their chances of victory increased massively as they raced away to a six-round lead, but it wasn't smooth sailing for the ANZ team. 00NATION, who were once again forced to fight from a disadvantage, showed a strong CT side and got within two rounds of Grayhound before eventually running out of steam. That meant Grayhound soon reached match point with the help of an incredible aliStair wallbang and closed out the game 16-12 to save themselves from the last chance bracket.