NSG 2022 Winter Championship Finals recap - XSET crowned Champions

After a competitive playoff run, XSET took down Pittsburgh Knights in the final stage to take home the NSG 2022 Winter Championship - Finals trophy, as well as a $20,000 prize.

The Nerd Street Gamers Winter Championship Finals have come to an end as the third stage of the competition is done. Many teams from the North American region competed against each other on the first and second day of the tournament to have themselves a seat in the playoff run.

Quarter Finals

The quarter finals stage welcomed Akrew, Radiance, The Guard, Pittsburgh Knights, Version1, Reformed, NRG Esports, and XSET. All the games started at the same time.

The Akrew-Radiance game was the most competitive series on the chart. Radiance won the first map with a score of 14-12 on Bind to get the lead but Akrew bounced back with Eric "Kanpeki" Xu’s leadership to take the series after winning back-to-back maps. The North American player secured 71 kills in three maps and held a 1.42 rating like the cherry on top.

Secondly, Pittsburgh Knights took down The Guard after a two-game series. Even though TG failed to win a single map, they still tried their best by winning eight rounds on Icebox and eleven on Ascent. Trent "trent" Cairns and Logan "skuba" Jenkins confirmed 83 kills combined with 1.27 and 1.22 ratings, respectively.

Surprisingly, Reformed completed a 2-0 sweep over Version1 to reach the semi finals of the competition. They managed to beat their opponents after two close maps, 13-9 on Breeze and 13-10 on Icebox. Austin "RENZ" Dickman’s Sova performance helped the team a lot as he held a 1.34 rating on the top of 253 ACS and 1.64 K/D.

Lastly, the two favorites of the tournament for the most, NRG Esports and XSET, battled against each other in the quarter finals stage. It was a one-sided series for XSET as they won the maps with scores of 13-4 and 13-7, respectively. XSET’s Breeze performance was on another level with Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban’s 20-kill Jett performance. Plus, Breeze was NRG’s pick.

Semi Finals

After beating Radiance in a close series, Akrew had a harder opponent ahead, Pittsburgh Knights. Even though they swept their opponents, PK also had a close matchup considering the map points in both games. As expected, both Ascent and Icebox could have gone for both sides but the Knights were the stronger side, eliminating their opponents with scores of 13-9 on Ascent and 13-10 on Icebox. Logan "skuba" Jenkins stepped up during the semi finals with 53 kills in total while playing Viper and Astra. On the other side, Andrew "Gucc107" Gutnichenko tried everything he could to reach the finals but it wasn’t enough.

In the second semi final game, XSET won the first map with Cryocells insane Jett performance. The North American player secured 30 kills and held a 1.99 rating on the top of a 393 ACS to win the game for his team. However, Reformed literally “reformed” in the second game and won the map with a score of 14-12 to force a third map. Unfortunately, it was the end of the road for them as XSET dominated the battlefield with a score of 13-3.

Finals

Finally, XSET and Pittsburgh Knights were the headliners of the NSG 2022 Winter Championship Finals. Most of the fans found what they were looking for as both games were very competitive until the very last minute. Just like in earlier stages, XSET won the first map with Cryocells stepping up with Jett in his hands, getting 24 kills.

Breeze was even closer than the first one, but this time, XSET had a different player that shined on the battlefield. Jordan "AYRIN" He had a marvelous 31-kill Viper performance to close out the game for his team. The Canadian player held a 1.67 rating and 306 ACS while helping his team to lift the trophy.

XSET will compete in the VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event against the best teams in the region and they may have regained their confidence by winning a trophy before the big league.

• 1st. XSET - $20,000
• 2nd. Pittsburgh Knights - $8,000
• 3rd-4th. Akrew - $5,000
• 3rd-4th. Reformed $5,000
• 5th-8th. Radiance - $3,000
• 5th-8th. The Guard - $3,000
• 5th-8th. Version1 - $3,000
• 5th-8th. NRG Esports - $3,000