Ben Scott

October 29, 2019

Over the weekend ESL Australia played host to the ESL AUNZ Championship Phase 3 Finals, where both Athletico Esports and Vendetta claimed two spots in the 2019 PUBG Global Championship.



All players taking part in the finals flew to Sydney to compete at the ESL Australia studio against a total of sixteen other teams, which meant sixty-four players packed into the studio throughout the weekend. Alongside two global qualifying spots, there was also a chance for the top eight to secure themselves a piece of $15,000AUD.





Above: ESL AUNZ Championship attendees. (Sarah Cooper / ESL)

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Prize Pool Breakdown:



1st - $6,000 AUD

2nd - $4,000 AUD

3rd - $2,000 AUD

4th - $1,200 AUD

5th/6th - $600 AUD

7th/8th - $300 AUD





Offline events don’t often happen in the Australasian Playerunknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) competitive scene, so this was an opportunity for teams to gain offline experience and potentially earn an overseas competition spot. Needless to say, a lot was on the line for those competing.



Right out of the gates, Vendetta seemed poised to secure one of the two spots for Australasia, having placed within the top five for eight out of ten matches on day one; two of these being first-place finishes. However, Athletico seemed to be on exactly the same page, as they almost mirrored the results of Vendetta.



Outside of the two overall winners, there were no other clear outliers competing for one of the two PUBG Global Championship spots on day one. It seemed the results were scattered across the board throughout the other fourteen teams. But as we entered day two, Team Immunity kicked into gear, and went on to place within the top five for the first five matches of the day. Although, unfortunately, they slipped on the final straight and ultimately finished fourth overall.



Another close contender was Envictus Gaming, who seemed to have had a rough first day like the rest of the pack, but managed to secure a first-place finish, two second-place finishes and three third-place finishes on day two. Again, they ultimately fell short due to a rough day one and finished third overall.



With that being said, it was neck and neck with Athletico Esports and Vendetta towards the end of the tournament, but eventually, Vendetta was crowned champion of the ESL AUNZ Championship Phase 3 Finals, securing themselves a ticket to the PUBG Global Championship finals and bagging themselves a total of $6,000 AUD.

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Above: Rob "Manic" Munday and Nikolai “kritikalmotion” Seth (Sarah Cooper / ESL)





For coming in second-place, Athletico Esports also booked themselves a ticket to the PUBG Global Championship finals and have also secured a total of $4,000 AUD for doing so.





Vendetta Roster:



Andrew “eDGe” McLaren

Nikolai “kritikalmotion” Seth

Sam “nonreg” Costantini

Dickson “icoNDks” Loh





Athletico Esports Roster:



Tenzin “Zoidm8” Wallis

Lachlan “Fludd” Thompson

Russell “Xtreme” Walters

Jordan “Jouxy” de Joux





Both teams will be in Los Angeles on November 8th, where they will battle their way through the group stages and hope to cement their spot in the finals later that month. Oakland will play host to the finals on November 23rd, with a champion being crowned on November 24th.



$2,000,000USD will be the initial prize pool for the event, with 50% of the PGC 2019 item revenue being shared among the participating teams. 25% of the PGC 2019 item revenue will go towards the total prize pool of the PUBG Global Championship finals, with the remaining 25% distributed based on the number of votes each team received in the PGC Pick’Em challenge. (source)



Congratulations to both Vendetta and Athletico Esports on qualifying for the PUBG Global Championship and good luck in the finals later next month.

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