MIBR GC defeats Xipto 2-1 to reach lower final

In a back-and-forth affair, MIBR GC MIBR GC Game Changers Rank #4 srN Nicolas Niederauer sayuri Camila Obam Jelly Julia Iris Mel Melissa Souza jubs Juliana Oliveira defeated Xipto Esports Xipto Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #2 Alexy Alexy Francisco enerii Odella Abraham Kamiyu Camille Enriquez 2-1 to reach the lower final, sending the Pacific champions home with a fourth-placed finish. After surviving elimination the day before, the two regional champions met, fighting for the chance to play in the lower final.

The three-map series was played out on Bind, Split, and Sunset with Bind being MIBR's map pick, Split being Xipto's map pick and Sunset being the decider. MIBR won Bind 13-4, Xipto won Split 13-6, and MIBR won Sunset 13-5.

MIBR made Bind, their map pick, look easy.

Their attack half was well-coordinated and dominant, building an 11-1 lead heading into halftime. Three different MIBR players were fragging in double digits, with duelist srN again leading the way. Playing on Raze, she ended the map with a server-leading 19 kills.

As the sides changed, the tides seemed to turn, too. Xipto converted their attacking pistol, anti-eco, and bonus rounds with great teamplay, setting themselves up with a good economy both in the bank and with their ultimate abilities. The momentum swing died, however, on the anti-eco following that bonus.

The following round exemplified MIBR's continued dominance, playing into their team organization and composition's strengths, pulling off a 4v5 retake. Through Bind, MIBR had allowed just seven rounds across the past three maps.

Split, the map that Xipto most recently had defeated FlyQuest RED FlyQuest RED North America Rank #100 evv sonder Diana Zhang StarBound theia Melisa Mundorff dodonut Karnthida Chaisrakeo on, started as almost a mirror of Bind, except it was a different team on top.

Xipto jumped out to an 8-1 lead, forcing MIBR head coach Biscoit1n to burn both of his timeouts in just the first half. The high-speed Xipto attack was highlighted by its double-duelist composition. With enerii on Neon and Alexy on Raze, they had little to no trouble taking space on their attacking half.

Carrying a 9-3 lead into halftime, Xipto won four of the next seven rounds, turning around a muted map one performance to force a third map, looking for back-to-back comeback victories. The day before, they defeated KRÜ BLAZE KRÜ BLAZE Latin America South Unranked dods Caue Fernandes conir Constanza Reyes micaela Micaela Ferreyra biazik Beatriz Begnossi after losing the first map 13-6.

While srN didn't enjoy her usual dominance on Split, she got back into her groove on Sunset. That momentum was heralded by an ace, assisted by teammate Jelly .

The map started back and forth with the first four rounds split evenly, but quietly and quickly ballooned into an 8-4 halftime deficit. Sunset, the map that MIBR defeated ZETA DIVISION GC ZETA DIVISION GC Japan Rank #10 suzu Suzu Sasaki SereNa Kim Sia (김시아) UR Moco Sarina Kawashima aco 13-3 just the day before, continued to be a dominant one for the Brazilian team.

A late 4K for Initiator player sayuri helped MIBR to reach match point, and they'd seal the series two rounds later, winning 13-5.

“I always try to keep calm,” sayuri said after the match. “I see I'm not killing anyone? It's okay! I'm giving the support at least, and the calls at least.”

While srN didn't have the dominant 29-kill performance that she did against ZETA on Sunset, she had a leaderboard-topping 20 kills, including a server-leading six first-bloods. Across all three maps, she also had 53 total kills and 279 ACS, which led the server, while Xipto's Alexy had 44 kills to lead her team.

With elimination, Xipto finishes GCC 24 in fourth place for the second year in a row, matching the result that they had as Team SMG GC Team SMG GC Inactive enerii Odella Abraham Alexy Alexy Francisco shirazi Kelly Jaudian Kamiyu Camille Enriquez in GCC 23.

Meanwhile, MIBR continues their campaign and has earned themselves a rematch with G2 Gozen G2 Gozen Europe Rank #223 rezq Eda Naz Akçocuk amy Amy Lai Vania Aleyna Keskin Petra Petra Stoker mimi Michaela Lintrup in the best-of-five lower final. G2 Gozen knocked MIBR down into the lower bracket when they met in the upper semifinal, and are coming off of a 2-0 loss to Shopify Rebellion Shopify Rebellion North America Rank #25 meL Melanie Capone alexis Alexis Guarrasi Noia Nicole Tierce sarahcat Sarah Simpson .