Tempo Storm win ESEA Premier S21

Tempo Storm win the ESEA Premier Season 21 North American finals 2-0 over Ze Pug Godz (16-14 on Cache and 16-3 on Cobblestone) and have now qualified for Season 4 of the ESL Pro League.

Similar to the ESEA Premier Season 21 Europe finals which took place last weekend, the one-day ESEA Premier Season 21 North America finals featured four teams competing in a single elimination bracket for $20,000 and an entry into Season 4 of the ESL Pro League.

Taking place in the ESL studios in Burbank, California, the tournament kicked off with a match between Ze Pug Godz and Kaliber, with the latter team having signed to a new home the day before.

Despite a 16-3 demolition derby on Mirage for Kaliber, the heavily favoured team (and ECS Season 1 contender) found themselves having to deal with Complexity's Bradley "⁠ANDROID⁠" Fodor (who was playing for Ze Pug Godz due to ESEA roster-lock rules) and the rest of ZPG across two maps which went the underdog's way in the end (22-18 on Cache and 16-10 on Train).

ESEA Premier Season 21 North America FinalsBest of 3 Ze Pug GodzMatchpage 2 1 15th May 2016 Kaliber 3Mirage 16 22Cache 18 16Train 10

Ze Pug Godz	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Bradley 'ANDROID' FodorANDROID	73 - 56	+17	88.3	1.31
Jimmy 'Marved' NguyenMarved	68 - 62	+6	80.0	1.11
Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' JonescJ dA K1nG	53 - 68	-15	80.0	0.95
Belal 'FGB' AhmadFGB	57 - 71	-14	73.8	0.85
Thomas 'cannonchow' Molinaricannonchow	39 - 58	-19	54.9	0.75

Kaliber	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	82 - 62	+20	111.4	1.49
Matthew 'no_one' Congdonno_one	66 - 62	+4	86.9	1.20
Terry 'dsr' Riouxdsr	61 - 52	+9	73.1	1.18
Cory 'APE' BateAPE	54 - 56	-2	72.9	0.99
Sebastian 'seb' Buckiseb	52 - 58	-6	68.3	0.95

The second semifinal of the tournament saw the favourites Tempo Storm match up against Vault. Train at first looked as if a huge upset were in the making as Vault pulled ahead to a substantial lead after a 9-6 first half, but the Brazilian team eventually grinded the map out and took it 16-13.

The second map was a complete stomp as Tempo Storm took Cobblestone 16-1 and advanced to the grand final.

ESEA Premier Season 21 North America FinalsBest of 3 Tempo StormMatchpage 2 0 16th May 2016 Vault 16Train 13 16Cobblestone 1

Tempo Storm	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
João 'felps' Vasconcellosfelps	52 - 33	+19	121.8	1.73
Ricardo 'boltz' Prassboltz	45 - 21	+24	102.3	1.59
Henrique 'HEN1' TelesHEN1	27 - 21	+6	61.1	1.13
Lucas 'LUCAS1' TelesLUCAS1	29 - 30	-1	64.0	1.05
Gustavo 'SHOOWTiME' GonçalvesSHOOWTiME	28 - 26	+2	68.7	1.05

Vault	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Joel 'jcrueL' CrueljcrueL	39 - 33	+6	91.2	1.25
Paul 'Nerdy' GillNerdy	26 - 36	-10	69.3	0.74
Ray 'Rarkar' XuRarkar	24 - 38	-14	57.0	0.68
Loic 'effys' Sauvageaueffys	21 - 36	-15	56.6	0.62
Ryan 'GRAMPZ' BaberGRAMPZ	21 - 38	-17	54.7	0.61

The grand final yet again saw Tempo Storm struggle to develop an early lead on the first map of a series as Ze Pug Godz finished their T-side on Cache with a 9-6 score and even took the scoreline as far as 13-6 in their favour.

However, discipline and fortitude always show, as the saying goes, and the Brazilian team simply proved they were the more versatile as they eventually began to snatch together round-after-round and ultimately won Cache 16-14.

felps and the rest of Tempo Storm have made it to the Pro League

Much like their semifinal battle against Vault, Tempo Storm then had an easy time of it on Cobblestone and defenstrated the pug gods 16-3 on the map; this map win included Lucas "⁠LUCAS1⁠" Teles hitting an astounding shot on a jumping Christopher "⁠cJ dA K1nG⁠" Jones on the second pistolround in an afterplant situation.

As a result, Tempo Storm have automatically advanced to the North American division of the ESL Pro League whereas Ze Pug Godz will play a Relegation match against KKona in the near future.

ESEA Premier Season 21 North America FinalsBest of 3 Ze Pug GodzMatchpage 0 2 16th May 2016 Tempo Storm 14Cache 16 3Cobblestone 16

Tempo Storm	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Lucas 'LUCAS1' TelesLUCAS1	45 - 27	+18	106.0	1.55
João 'felps' Vasconcellosfelps	47 - 37	+10	99.8	1.53
Ricardo 'boltz' Prassboltz	45 - 27	+18	96.0	1.44
Gustavo 'SHOOWTiME' GonçalvesSHOOWTiME	32 - 25	+7	66.7	1.10
Henrique 'HEN1' TelesHEN1	25 - 24	+1	52.1	0.98

Ze Pug Godz	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Belal 'FGB' AhmadFGB	34 - 36	-2	79.9	1.03
Jimmy 'Marved' NguyenMarved	36 - 37	-1	79.0	1.01
Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' JonescJ dA K1nG	31 - 40	-9	70.5	0.82
Bradley 'ANDROID' FodorANDROID	20 - 42	-22	53.4	0.57
Thomas 'cannonchow' Molinaricannonchow	18 - 39	-21	46.4	0.50

ESEA Premier Season 21 North America Finals final standings:

1. Tempo Storm - $10,000 + ESL Pro League Season 4 spot
2. Ze Pug Godz - $5,000 + ESL Pro League Season 3 Relegation
3-4. Kaliber - $2,500
3-4. Vault - $2,500 

stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter

KKona #111 Ellis 'els' ClayDavid 'inVert' MonroeSteven 'rooRoooo' Herrell Kaliber #55 Kyle 'OCEAN' O'BrienCory 'APE' BateMatthew 'no_one' CongdonVincent 'Brehze' CayonteTerry 'dsr' Rioux Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones Age: 18 Team: Ze Pug Godz Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 25 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.73 Bradley 'ANDROID' Fodor Age: 21 Team: Complexity Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 65 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.68 Complexity #49 Rory 'dephh' JacksonJoshua 'sancz' BallengerKia 'Surreal' ManBradley 'ANDROID' FodorShawn 'witmer' Taylor Vault #59 Loic 'effys' SauvageauRay 'Rarkar' XuPaul 'Nerdy' GillRyan 'GRAMPZ' BaberJoel 'jcrueL' Cruel Ze Pug Godz Lucas 'LUCAS1' Teles Age: 20 Team: Tempo Storm Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 165 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.66 Tempo Storm #8 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesLucas 'LUCAS1' TelesRicardo 'boltz' PrassJoão 'felps' VasconcellosGustavo 'SHOOWTiME' Gonçalves