It nearly went the distance, but dynamic duo Karlo “USTILO” Pivac & Declan “Vexite” Portelli were on fire as Order overcame a spirited Paradox outfit 3-1 (10-16, 16-12, 16-11, 16-7) to claim victory at Rivalry’s Insanely Awesome CS:GO Tournament.
Karlo “USTILO” Pivac & Declan “Vexite” Portelli were on fire as Order overcame a spirited Paradox outfit 3-1 (10-16, 16-12, 16-11, 16-7) to claim victory at Rivalry’s Insanely Awesome CS:GO Tournament.
“The Lobster” USTILO (+25 K/Diff, 1.36 rating) rolled back the years on the server, testing Paradox mentally across all four maps through numerous flanks and multi-kill entries.
Young gun Vexite (+24 K/Diff, 1.26 rating) saved his best for last, dropping 32 kills in the final map to put the result beyond doubt.
Corey “nettik” Browne (+11, 1.12 rating), highlighted as one to watch for Paradox, took out the tournament MVP award despite the loss
Heading into the tournament, the general consensus was backing in Order — could any of the squads in attendance take down the favourite, fresh off the plane from a European bootcamp?
The answer appeared to be a resounding ‘no’ on day one.
Order dropped just 15 rounds in their three group stage best-of-one’s. Open qualifier Dead Weight came closest to a win, leading the half but faltering on the T side to lose 16-11, before Order put Overt and 8Ballers to the sword in record time, taking both matches 16-2.
Overt — just a week on from their top two finish at Rivalry’s sister event, Clash of Rivals — joined Order in the playoffs from Group A, edging out 8Ballers 16-14 on Inferno.
Group B saw Paradox through 3-0 ahead of Vertex, with their 16-9 win their first in the head-to-head against James “Roflko” Lytras’ line-up in months.
Vertex were at risk of missing the playoffs until the final best-of-one, where their 16-6 victory over 1620 Kings locked them in as second seed.
Day two initially saw more of the same from the top seeds — Paradox annihilated Overt 2-0 (16-4, 16-6), while Order extended their head-to-head map record to 20-4 over Vertex with a 2-0 (16-12, 16-9) win.
The two form teams for the event met in the upper bracket, but what proceeded surprised everyone.
Led by Corey “nettik” Browne (22-13, 104 ADR, 1.64 rating) & Michael “chelleos” Hawkins (20-12, 91 ADR, 1.63 rating), Paradox handed Order their first map loss of the event — a 16-6 Dust 2 demolition.
Order would shake off the rust for game two, narrowly avoiding a Paradox comeback on Mirage to hold off 16-13 behind a Declan “Vexite” Portelli masterclass (28-20, 106 ADR, 1.48 rating).
But there would be no stopping Paradox in the end, claiming an unlikely upset on Nuke 16-14 to book their spot in the big dance and send the ESL Challenger 48 representatives to the lower bracket.
Sharvesh “dangeR” Saravanan (23-21, 1.16 rating) was the stand-out for Paradox in the two-round win, netting numerous multikills on CT ramp and landing a match-turning one-versus-three.
Order would eventually join them in the final, downing Vertex in a lower bracket final rematch 2-0 (16-8, 16-11).
Paradox picked off right where they ended the upper bracket final, taking down Order in the grand final opener 16-10 thanks to a brilliant performance from Tyson “asap” Paterson (25-14, 108 ADR, 1.69 rating).
But from there, it was the USTILO and Vexite show.
A huge 12-3 half on Dust 2 was eventually converted by Order 16-12, with Vexite (29-18, 100 ADR, 1.53 rating) and Jireh “J1rah” Youakim (27-21, 104 ADR, 1.36 rating) the standouts.
Overpass was a back-and-forth affair, with chelleos dominating the early AWP matchup.
But once Order hit the CT side, it was all over bar the shouting — Luke “ekul” Blakey in what would be his final series in competitive CS:GO, combined with USTILO to take the series lead.
Vexite (32-11, 134 ADR, 2.12 rating) put the cherry on top on Nuke, sealing the championship with a blistering 30-bomb.
“We are really excited to finally be live in the Australian market, and the tourney with Order [has been] the best way to signal that with a bang,” said Rivalry CEO Steven Salz.
“As a brand we strive to elevate not just the highest level of esports, but also everything in between. Creating opportunity for fans and aspiring pro’s to win is what Rivalry is all about.”
Rivalry are expected to return to the region in the coming months, with ongoing partnerships between the bookmaker and local Oceanic tournament operators to be established across 2022.
