Steelseries Invitational: Oxygen Gaming storm to title

Oxygen Gaming blew past TSM to take first place in the Steelseries Invitational. They closed a sizable gap to blow the ALGS Playoff champions out of the water on Day 2 of the $10,000 event.

The Steelseries Invitational was a two day tournament, consisting of six games per day. This was a rare opportunity for teams in North America to compete in a high quality tournament environment before LAN.

For full scores and a full team list, see our score hub here.

After the first days action, it was TSM who had a dominant lead. They earned a really impressive 88 points in six games, an average of almost 15 per game.

Even more impressive was that this was using Catalyst. A legend that TSM struggled to adapt too, but have accepted they will need ahead of LAN in July. Clearly, this adaptation is on the right track. However, in a two day event the pressure was on to continue that dominant form in the second days games.

However, in true TSM fashion there was a dramatic twist. A combination of a few stumbles by TSM, and a steam train in the form of Oxygen Gaming. By game nine, TSM had slipped to second and were 10 points behind Oxygen. NRG also had moved within striking distance, at 94 points to TSM's 101.

TSM's woes continued into Storm Point, and they found themselves in third, tied with NRG, heading into the final game. Oxygen had moved 31 points ahead, too much to surpass in a single game.

What Oxygen Gaming managed to do that TSM couldn't was maintain their form across both days. They won three games on day one, and also made a range of end games on the second day.

However, the real secret to Oxygen Gamings success was having a high baseline performance. In a Battle Royale, you just cannot expect to win every game except in freak scenarios. What Oxygen did so effectively in the Steelseries Invitational was post something in every game.

A two point game was their worst performance across the twelve games, and they regularly had a decent kill count even in games where they died in the mid game. Not relying on your endgame to get kills helped keep their point total ticking over. TSM on the other hand had four 0 kill games in the second day of the tournament.

Of course, Oxygen Gaming were also simply on fire across the weekend too. This was perfectly personified by the penultimate game. Oxygen Gaming performed what looked like a second place manoeuvre. Jumping on NRG, it seemed like they wanted to bank the three kills and extra placement. This would have left XSET to clean up an easy victory.

This was a smart play, XSET were not in contention for the title and NRG were hot on Oxygens heels at the time.

Yet, a clean and tidy one versus three from Aidanthedestroyer turned the endgame on it's head. He managed to secure a big win for Oxygen Gaming, which put the Steelseries Invitational title beyond doubt with a game to spare.

This was one of the best Oxygen Gaming performances since this roster formed, more than justifying their pickup from Glytch Energy. With LAN now only a month away, Oxygen will be looking to keep this momentum and consistency as they head to London.

Full scores here.

NRG managed to pass TSM, and hold off a late surge by OpTic Gaming to take second place overall. There was a lack of expectation around NRG, with Sweet recently returning from Japan. However their natural quality shone through, and NRG seemed like they had never been away during the Steelseries Invitational.

A particular highlight for NRG was an incredible duo victory on Worlds Edge.

Using a unique set-up of Loba, Seer and Rampart NRG's playstyle on Worlds Edge seems like it will be perfectly suited to LAN. There is a lot of discourse on the benefits of Controller, but NRG Sweet flew the flag for Mouse and Keyboard with one of the fastest armour swaps of all time.

The energy from NRG was impressive all twelve games, far and above some of their struggles in the ALGS Pro League. This tournament will form what has been a strong start to their LAN preparations and they are in a good position to go one better in London this July.

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