Extra Salt wins ESEA Winter Cash Cup 5 NA

Extra Salt, with two South African players and a coach, has won their first notable tournament as a full team after picking up Justin “⁠FaNg⁠” Coakley. The squad competed at the ESEA Winter Cash Cup 5 (hosted in celebration of Valentine’s Day) and walked away as the victors.

Extra Salt at ESEA Winter Cash Cup 5

The ESEA Winter Cash Cup 5 saw four teams (who had to qualify for the event) compete for their share of the $15,000 prize pool. That’s roughly R216,000 at the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate.

Extra Salt didn’t get off to the best of starts in the tournament, losing the first map, Overpass, against Triumph 16-14. However, the team pulled it back, beating their opponents 16-13 on Nuke, followed by 19-17 nailbiter of a match on Dust 2. This win got them into the finals of the tournament.

In the other semi-finals, Secret Club beat Recon 5 16-8 on Inferno. However, Recon 5 won the next two maps, with a scoreline on Mirage being 16-14, followed by a 16-10 victory on Nuke to make it to the finals.

In the finals of the ESEA Winter Cash Cup 5 NA, Extra Salt again lost their first map with a scoreline of 16-8 on Nuke. The squad didn’t want to go down without a fight, pulling it back with a 16-7 win on Overpass, and a 16-12 win on Inferno. With the win against Recon 5, Extra Salt won the tournament with two reverse-sweeps in a row.

Extra Salt earns the lion’s share of the ESEA Winter Cash Cup 5 NA at $9,000. At the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate, that’s R130,000. Not bad at all for a day’s work.

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Header image via Valve.