EG.PA take down BIG Academy to win Fragadelphia 17

Evil Geniuses's Blueprint Project sees its first success in a North American LAN.

EG White emerged victorious at Fragadelphia 17 after three days of competition. The squad captained by Ben "⁠ben1337⁠" Smith started off their adventure in Philadelphia during the Last Chance Qualifier and went all the way through the group stage and playoffs to claim the trophy and $40,000.

Josh "⁠PwnAlone⁠" Pigue was the standout player for the North American squad at the event as the 31-year-old averaged a 1.27 rating across the 11 maps played in the latter two stages of the tournament.

The GLS group stage gave way to the knockout phase, and there were no surprises in the quarter-finals. Apeks and EG White came out on top in their matches against ATK and Iron Blood respectively while BIG Academy dispatched Electrify Steel after a narrow win on the CT side of Dust2.

TeamOne vs EG Black was the only series to go all the way to three maps. The Brazilian squad recovered from an opening 14-16 loss on Inferno to beat the North American squad featuring Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz and William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba.

None of the teams that were invited to the main stage of Fragadelphia through their previous tournaments and affiliated ESEA Cash Cups made it past the first round of playoffs.

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Fragadelphia 17 reaches playoffs

Apeks showed signs of weakness throughout the event after being relegated to the lower bracket of the Last Chace Qualifier at the hands of BIG Academy. Their struggles continued with a 0-2 by Squirtle Squad in Group B which prevented them from topping the group and surpass TeamOne. A semi-final rematch against the young German squad was the perfect chance to get back on their feet, but the series went again the way of BIG Academy as they claimed a spot in the final.

The visiting Germans were joined in the final by EG White who cruised through their series against TeamOne, courtesy of two fantastic performances by PwnAlone and Wesley "⁠viz⁠" Harris. The two Americans registered a 1.38 and 1.28 rating respectively in the semi-final during the home team's dominance on Dust2 (16-4) and Nuke (16-9).

EG White didn't drop a single map on the way to the grand final. They struck first in the last match, converting an 11-4 lead on the CT side of Nuke (16-11) to go ahead in the series before BIG Academy's response on Vertigo (16-6).

Elias "⁠s1n⁠" Stein had a fantastic tournament, but he really stepped up in the final. The 20-year-old rifler averaged an incredible 1.47 rating across the three maps and pushed his squad to tie up the series on Vertigo with a 2.08 rating.

The trophy was decided on Mirage, and it was EG White to come out victorious after a solid offensive half from PwnAlone and Jonathan "⁠djay⁠" Dallal. The Germans failed to build on their pistol round victory in the second half due to a North American force buy in the second round which broke the CT economy. EG White then maintained their advantage, before closing the series with a 16-9 victory.

The final placings for Fragadelphia 17 are:

1. EG White - $40,000
2. BIG Academy - $20,000
3-4. Apeks - $10,000
3-4. TeamOne - $10,000
5-8. EG Black - $5,000
5-8. Iron Blood - $5,000
5-8. ATK - $5,000
5-8. Electrify Steel - $5,000