Order have bowed out of ESL Challenger 48 without a map victory, following losses to Furia and Complexity Gaming.
With Luke “ekul” Blakey on debut overseas as a late addition, replacing the departing Ricardo “Rickeh” Mulholland, expectations weren’t high for the Australian squad in their attempt to qualify for the ESL Conference.
But none were prepared for the thrashing they’d face at the hands of Brazilian outfit Furia, who took no prisoners in their opening match against Order, winning on Nuke 16-4.
Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato dropped 23 kills in the best-of-one, all but single-handedly consigning Order to the lower bracket, where they would face a Complexity outfit chasing their first win as a squad.
Order struggled early in their pick of Dust 2, falling to a 2-6 deficit before handy AWP kills from ekul (20-18, 1.16 HLTV rating) combined with crisp entry frags from Declan “Vexite” Portelli (22-19, 1.29 HLTV rating) saw Order climb into a 9-6 lead at the break.
From there, however, it went sour for the Aussies. Complexity took complete control on the T side, securing numerous bomb plants and forcing Order into saves.
Order would manage just two CT rounds in an 11-16 loss, meaning they’d have to overcome Complexity on their pick of Vertigo to stay alive.
The Aussies began strongly on the CT side, opening with a 6-2 start and forcing numerous T economy resets — Matthew “Valiance” Hartrick (28-16, 1.51 HLTV rating) was instrumental in establishing the lead.
But numerous missed clutches came back to bite Order, with Paytyn “junior” Johnson taking control of the CT side in the second half. Despite many clutch opportunities, Order would manage just two T rounds on their way to a 10-16 defeat.
“It felt like both maps could have gone either way,” said Vexite following his side’s elimination.
“We unfortunately couldn’t pull through on some of the important rounds, but we’re happy with how we played in the series considering our circumstances.”
Teammate Valiance shared his sentiment. “We showed some really good signs on both halves, but couldn’t close it out in the end. Super proud of the boys despite our circumstances.”
The loss ends Order’s attempt for qualifying for the ESL Conference now, but with a spot up for grabs through the next season of ESL ANZ Champs, not all is lost for the Melbourne-based outfit in their road to Pro League qualification.
Order will remain in Europe to practice before returning home, but in the meanwhile, compatriots Renegades will compete at IEM Katowice this week, while LookingForOrg continue to prepare for their pinnacle showing at ESL Pro League later in March.
