ASDF, VG secure spots at ESEA GC LAN

The ESEA Open playoffs for Oceania and Asia have been concluded today, with ASDF and VG.CyberZen winning their respective grand final matches and qualifying for the ESEA Global Challenge LAN Finals.

After wrapping up the European, North American and South African playoffs and finding out which teams from the regions will take part in the $50,000 ESEA GC LAN in Katowice, Poland, the action moved to Oceania and Asia.

In the Oceanic region, ASDF and Chiefs met in the grand final after fighting through a 16 team single-elimination bracket. The loss of Mohammed "⁠MoeycQ⁠" Tizani seems to have left a big impact on Chiefs as they struggled against Michael "⁠Lightstep⁠" Hall's side.

After a good start as Terrorists on Mirage, Chiefs had a 7-3 lead, but ASDF clawed their way back into the match and let their opponents take only two more rounds in the whole map, closing the game 16-9.

The second map was Cache where Chiefs once again had a solid Terrorist side with eight rounds in the first half, but were unable to do much as Counter-Terrorists. ASDF grinded out the Terrorist rounds and finished the game with a 16-11 scoreline, leaving Chiefs with only three CT rounds in the second map and five over the whole BO3.

With this result, ASDF qualified for ESEA GC LAN and continued a good run of form from CyberGamer Oceania eSports Masters.

 ESEA Open Season 22 Oceania final standings:

1. ASDF - S22 Global Challenge
2. Chiefs - $500
3-4. AVANT - $375
3-4. Athletico - $375
5-8. Global Sanction - $125
5-8. Skyfire - $125
5-8. SSU White - $125
5-8. SYF - $125

In the Asian playoffs VG.CyberZen and Signature made their way to the finals without much resistance from their regional opposition. The Chinese team didn't drop a single map while the Thai side had only one three map affair - against their local rival MiTH. 

Looking at the bracket, the early exit of TheMongolz in the round of 16 seemed to be the biggest surprise, but in reality, not much could be expected from a side that was forced to play 4v5 due to players leaving and ESEA roster lock rules.

In the grand final, Bin "⁠Savage⁠" Liu's side swiftly took the first map, Mirage, with a 16-4 scoreline, showing their dominance by not allowing the Thai team a foothold in the match.

Moving on to Cache, Signature got to start on the Counter-Terrorist side. With the help of their star player Patiphan "⁠CigaretteS⁠" Posri they managed to secure a slim 8-7 lead, but ultimately failed to do much damage as Terrorists. VG.CyberZen closed out the match with a 16-9 scoreline and 2-0 overall to qualify for ESEA GC.

ESEA Open Season 22 Asia final standings:

1. VG.CyberZen - S22 Global Challenge
2. Signature - $500
3-4. dream[S]cape - $375
3-4. 4dimensioN - $375
5-8. Brutality - $125
5-8. DeToNator - $125
5-8. autocracy - $125
5-8. MVP Project - $125

With the Asian and Oceanic playoffs done, the list of attendees for ESEA Global Challenge looks like this:

Region	Team
Europe	ENCE
Europe	MK
North America	Rush
North America	Echo Fox
South Africa	Bravado*
Oceania	ASDF
Asia	VG.CyberZen
Brazil	TBD

*Due to visa issues, it is unlikely that any South African team will travel to Poland. The team to replace them is expected to be decided between ALTERNATE aTTaX and Kalashnikov 47 (EU semifinalists).

Only the last spot is left undecided - with the two Brazilian teams g3x and BigGods vying for the spot.