NA Regional Event 2 Day 2 Highlights: SSG Do The Impossible

The 2nd day of North America’s 2nd regional event just came to close, and it sure was an interesting one. Top teams were taken down, others scrapped for major contention, and overall, the final four teams were determined for championship Sunday.

And even though Jstn is still the king of NA, Daniel had well and truly cemented himself as the prince.

NRG VS SSG Grand Final Rematch:

This upper semi-finals matchup was fought tooth and claw, with every game bar 1 decided by just a single goal. Daniel’s dominance at the highest level continued from the get go with a goal to tie up game 1, which remained present throughout the series.

But Jstn’s incredible offensive presence was devastating for SSG, constantly putting up shot and dangerous passes, which when paired with Garrett’s perfect defence, led NRG to a solid 4-2 victory to advance to another upper bracket finals.

G2 Leave Their Mark On The Competition:

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind now that G2 made a good decision on that between splits addition of Atomic, with the team now seemingly perfectly in sync.

After FaZe’s dominant 9-0 on day 1, G2 were sure to get off to a strong start, with a Chicago pass setting the newly added Atomic for a comfortable finish to take game 1.

Despite the best efforts of Sypical, who scored 3 and 4 goals in game 2 and 5 wins respectively, their defence was faltering, and they were unable to keep out JKnaps‘ relentless attack, who proved why he’s still a force to be reckoned with at the top of NA with a game 4 hat trick and 2 crucial game 6 goals, helping to close the series out 4-2 for G2, and locking in a much needed top 3 finish.

Oxygen Extinguish Envy Major Chances:

Lj produced a series for the ages, to all but send Envy home and out of major contention. In a series where Toastie and Gimmick struggled to find their feet, Lj was dominant at both ends of the field, producing not only amazing shots but also precise defensive efforts to guide Oxygen to the 3-2 victory.

After being labeled a fluke following last week’s top 6, Oxygen found a way to return to the same position again off the back of wins over Ghost, NXT, V1 and Envy, who will be haunted by Lj’s series for a while to come.

Rogue Take Out Grudge Match:

Aqua may not have the same hype as his counterpart Daniel, but he’s certainly putting on a similar show, producing 3 critical goals in the Rogue Vs XSET series to help guide Rogue to a 3-2 victory.

Despite some big offensive efforts from Percy, it was ultimately Taraco, Rogue‘s rock, who rose to the occasion, finding two important goals in game 5 to take a nail biting overtime victory, securing a much needed top 6 finish for Rogue and keeping any major chances well and truly alive.

FaZe Return To Day 1 Form:

After a 9-0 day 1, FaZe were upset by G2 in upper bracket in shocking fashion. Sent to lowers, this team looked angry, and they were hungry for goals.

Echoing their day 1 dominance, all 3 players on Faze chipped in with big performances, averaging more than a goal a game each, an despite Aqua’s best efforts on defence and counter attack, FaZe were relentless, putting 18 goals past Rogue to secure a 4-0 sweep and top 4 finish.

SSG Make NA RLCS History:

Just when it seemed like this new, exciting roster was dead, they somehow found a way. In the early stages of the series, Oxygen completely dominated SSG, shutting them out in both games 1 and 2, before some offensive whiffs from SSG in game 3 gifted Oxygen the overtime win, opening up a 3-0 lead.

Not once in NA regional RLCS history has a team completed a reverse sweep, but SSG weren’t ready to be finished just yet. After Lj’s bump set up an early Gimmick goal in the first 30 seconds of game 4, SSG responded perfectly, with Retals showing poise in his shooting to nail 3 perfect shots and get SSG on the board.

In game 5, SSG had the shackles on Oxygen, allowing just 1 shot, the first time Oxygen have been limited that low this season, to suck the breath out of their opponents, getting the series back to 2-3 with Oxygen seemingly in panic mode, calling a time out in an attempt to reset the momentum.

Game 6 was fought with everything both teams had, and after a game of defensive precision, a devastating Arsenal error with 46 seconds to go seemed to have sealed the series. But Arsenal wasn’t ready to be the scape goat just yet, nailing the two goals SSG needed to make the comeback and tying the series up 3-3.

Champions Field, on the biggest stage, and the prodigy, the kid, the Daniel, came up big time when SSG needed him most. After conceding early, it was Daniel who found the late touch to tie up the series, and with a midfield snipe in overtime, the rising star secured the win for SSG, coming through clutch in game 7 overtime to lock in a top 4 result for SSG once again, and proving that this team is truly never out of it.