After a thrilling first day of competition at the Chicago Home Series, the second day of action saw its fair share of world-class action.
Seattle secures top four
The Chicago Home Series has been a very solid showing for the Seattle Surge, a team that has been struggling to find any consistency so far this season - something that is surprising given the heavyweight North American names on the roster.
The Surge started the day taking on the Dallas Empire in the group B qualification match but were defeated 3-1 in a series where Seattle did manage to give the Empire a run for its money in the respawn modes.
Now facing the Los Angeles Guerrillas for the second time in the tournament, it was all or nothing for both teams as the loser of the match was out of the tournament. Having beat them in convincing fashion on Friday, Seattle dispatched of the Guerrillas 3-1 to book their place in the top four.
Disappointment for London
Heading into the event with some solid practice under the belts of the team, expectations were relatively high for a new-look London Royal Ravens with Sean "Seany" O'Connor joining the starting line-up.
The 3-0 loss to Atlanta does not tell the full story of that particular game, with every game coming down to the wire. A few small mistakes from London ultimately made the difference, sending them down to the lower bracket where they would take on the Chicago Huntsmen.
The opening Hardpoint was decided by seven points and with the momentum on their side, the Huntsmen quickly asserted its dominance on Gun Runner Search & Destroy to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
The Royal Ravens responded with a solid showing on St. Petrograd Domination to force a fourth game but some quick maths from Chicago saw them tick over to a 250-235 win on Azhir Cave Hardpoint to take the series 3-1 and eliminate London from the tournament.
Considering this was the first outing for the new-look team, there are plenty of positives to take away from London's performances against two of the best teams in the league.
Atlanta survive New York onslaught
After stunning Chicago on Friday, the new and improved New York Subliners headed into the match against the Atlanta FaZe full of confidence and it showed in the opening match, securing the early lead in what is arguably Atlanta's weakest game mode.
The FaZe responded on Arklov Peak S&D to level the series and quickly took the lead with another solid performance in Domination but the Subliners were not out of it. Heading back onto Hardpoint, New York sent Atlanta to the 100-point club to force a fifth and final map.
Atlanta displayed their S&D prowess, taking St. Petrograd 6-1 to book their place in the knockout bracket.
New York finding form
Despite the loss to Atlanta and Chicago to eliminate them from the tournament, the New York Subliners has seen significant improvements after a turbulent start to the season.
New addition Mackenzie "Mack" Kelley looks to be the missing link for the team, adding to the aggressive slaying power that Dillon "Attach" Price and Tommy "ZooMaa" Paparatto.
After taking down Chicago once and coming close to defeating Atlanta, New York are in a prime position to join the hectic mid-table battle that is about to ensue in the coming weeks.
Chicago Survive
The lower bracket is a place that you don't expect to see the Chicago Huntsmen very often. After losing to New York on Friday, it was an uphill battle for Chicago to stay in contention in its home event.
First up was the London Royal Ravens. The UK team gave the Huntsmen a run for their money in the Domination but Chicago outclassed them in Search & Destroy and managed to hold on in Hardpoint to win the series 3-1 to advance to a second showdown with the Subliners.
New York came out swinging to take the first game but the Huntsmen responded in game two thanks to some efficient trading.
The Huntsmen somehow managed to win Hackney Yard Domination by just two points after a mad scramble for the flags in the closing stages of the game to give them a 2-1 lead. After that, Chicago managed to overcome the Subliners on St. Petrograd Hardpoint to take a 3-1 win and secure their place in the final four.
The opening day of action at the Chicago Home Series is done and dusted. Find out what happened as well as the shock results of the tournament so far.
