The survival format of PGI.S has continued to throw curveballs at our thirty-two teams who are fighting for a spot in the weekend matches. Jostling for position inside the play zone while avoiding unnecessary fights that generally result in mutual destruction, it’s safe to say that teams are still adapting to the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner format. However, over the past five weeks of play, we have witnessed some teams settle in quicker than others. On Saturday, the next sixteen teams competing for a top-four placement head into this weekend’s final.
Once again, the base prize pool for this weekend has increased since last weekend, and that’s not taking into consideration the unbelievable number of crowdfunding dollars added on top. After an intense series of games last weekend, Zenith Esports was award a staggering ~$350,000 USD (including an estimated amount for crowdfunding), this weekend teams will be playing for even more. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but next week is the sixth and final chance teams have to take home the BIG money. So, this weekend will allow four teams to leave PGI.S with the peace of mind that they were able to win a large sum of money for their time spent in Korea.
Efforts to secure an elusive Chicken Dinner in the Weekly Survival were unsuccessful for a few of our powerhouse teams this week. Including squads that many fans had already cast their Pick Em’ Challenge coupons for such as FaZe Clan, DAMWON KIA, and Shoot To Kill. Each of these teams will be sidelined again as their competitors compete for the big money over the weekend. For STK and FaZe, this is their second consecutive week in the Bottom 16. For the highlight anticipated and widely regarded roster of DAMON KIA, the failure to advance to the Final results in their fifth trip to the Bottom 16.
As always, the three-day stretch of games delivered a new batch of exceptional highlights as teams fought for their spot in Weekly Final #5. Here are a few of the standout plays from this past weekend.
‘AIXLEFT’ STARTS WEEK FIVE WITH 200IQ PLAY
Missing out on the first three Weekly Finals of PGI.S, Petrichor Road has begun to turn things around amid two consecutive qualifications behind the Match 1 victory Tuesday. Heading into Week Five with just $1,000 USD in earned prize money, the team was delighted to secure $10,000 USD for their opening match win to start Weekly Survival #5.
During Phase 9 of the team’s win on Miramar, “Aixleft” made one of the more impressive plays I’ve witnessed at PGI.S thus far – and the majority of viewers may have missed it. Taking the high-ground for his team as MCG and Infantry exchanged fire, “Aixleft” recognized the situation that was taking place out just beneath his team.
“Aixleft” intentionally holds his shot onto Infantry’s “9” because he’s aware that allowing him to play alongside the stronger MCG only benefits Petrichor Road in the long run. It’s excellent trigger discipline and awareness of the end-game by “Aixleft”. Of course, that decision leads directly to how this final zone unfolds.
“9” then knocked two members of MCG, taking care of Petrichor Road’s dirty work. After landing a shot on to the final two injured players, PR punched their ticket to the Weekly Final.
META GAMING RETURN TO WEEKLY FINAL
After two excellent showings in the Bottom 16, and strong performance in the team’s first Weekly Final this past weekend, Meta Gaming will return for Weekly Final #5 following their Match 3 Chicken Dinner. Playing beneath the dangerous DAMWON KIA, Meta Gaming managed to keep their distance from Shoot To Kill and Gen.G in the West and pull off the win against all odds.
“sparkingg” utilized a vehicle to spread out and move further down the ridgeline, while simultaneously creating a distraction that allowed “SzylzEN” to find the knock on to KIA’s “kAyle”. This presented the opportunity that Meta needed to close out the match, which the team quickly jumped on as “sparkingg” and “SzylzEN” found the final two enemy players.
SONIQ’S HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL: TGLTN WIPES LIQUID
After making back-to-back trips to the Bottom 16 in Week 2 and 3, it’s been great to see the Soniqs advance through the Weekly Survival these past two weeks of play. They are without question one of the most talented teams at PGI.S with a tendency to produce unbelievable highlights at any moment. The team’s player who I would say is most likely to do that is, of course, TGLTN.
He manages to knock two members of Team Liquid with a perfect spray transfer from one to the other, and ultimately finds Mxey a few seconds later. TGLTN regularly makes these plays in Ranked Mode when he’s streaming to fans on Twitch, but it’s surreal to see it happen on this stage against one of Europe’s most respected teams. He’s one of the most electric players competing in PUBG Esports at this time, and this is just his latest example of excellence.
T1 TAKE CONTROL AND MOVE TOWARDS FINAL
After seeing Team Liquid take out the remainder of Virtus.pro, T1 pushed across the street to take center-circle of Phase 9 and found themselves a ticket to the Weekly Final. Liquid was up against the blue zone as it collapsed and had little time to reset following their fight with VP – T1 took advantage of that and won three isolated fights on the outskirts of a smoke grenade plume.
T1 secured their third consecutive invite to the Weekly Final where the team will have an opportunity to earn a share of the massive Week Five prize pool. Ninth has been the team’s best placement over a weekend so far, but hopefully, they will have learned from their past two outings and climb into the top-four during Weekly Final #5.
