ATK’s CS:GO squad qualifies for ESEA S39 North America Premier
In mid-August, ATK Arena’s CS:GO squad finally travelled to Mexico to embark on their international journey. Since then, the team has been competing in a variety of tournaments, from DreamHack Open to IEM Fall 2021 NA. The ATK CS:GO has also been duking it out in the ESEA Season 38 North American Advanced division.
It goes without saying that ATK’s CS:GO team has been busy, gaining experience with each tournament. We are proud to report that ATK has managed to qualify for the ESEA S39 North America Premier division, where they will compete against some of the top teams in the region, including Extra Salt.
ATK takes 2nd place at ESEA S38 Advanced
In the past two months, ATK’s CS:GO squad have been fighting against 43 other teams in the ESEA S38 Advanced division. They managed to secure a top 12 finish during the group stage, which meant they qualified for the playoffs of the league.
During the playoffs, ATK beat Synthetic 2-0, followed by another 2-0 win over Northern Forces. During the Upper Bracket final, Godsent knocked ATK down a peg, beating them 2-0 despite the 2nd map, Inferno, being a very close affair.
ATK bounced back in the lower bracket finals, after losing the first map to Detonate, completing a reverse sweep to make it to the finals. During the finals, however, Godsent made relatively quick work of the South African squad, beating them 3-0 (one map upper bracket advantage) to win the ESEA S38 Advanced division.
Despite the loss against Godsent, ATK’s CS:GO squad secured a top-two finish, which means they have qualified for ESEA S39 Premier Division. For their second-place finish, ATK also walked away with $4,000 in prize money. At the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate, that’s roughly R58,000.
ESEA S39 North America Premier division kicks off on 2 November, and we can’t wait to see how ATK does against some of the best teams in the region.
Header image via Valve.