After our sixth and final lap through Weekly Survival, it’s fair to say we could all use a day off to catch our breath before the PGI.S finale. The past three days have delivered an abundance of nerve-wracking moments over the sixteen matches that determined the lobby for Weekly Final #6. Scattered with its own share of ups and downs, clutch plays, and shortcomings, the final survival matches of PGI.S produced the event’s most exciting stretch of games yet. As half of our teams celebrated their victories and an opportunity to leave Korea much wealthier than when they arrived, the other sixteen began packing their bags and said farewell to what’s been the greatest PUBG Esports event to date.
Fighting for their chance to play on the last weekend of PGI.S, the past three days perfectly illustrated the determination of the teams competing in this event. Every player knew exactly what was on the line for their team – a trip to the finals where they’d have a shot at the event’s multi-million dollar prize pool. Battling through their respected challenges, each of sixteen winners found a way to secure their spot in this weekend’s final. For the others, we say ‘Farewell’ and ‘Thank You’ to every team for their incredible performances over the course of what’s been an unforgettable event.
DAY ONE
Weekly Survival #6 started exactly how you’d expect it to when you remember that teams were playing to keep their PGI.S campaign alive. The action began almost immediately and highlights were being produced in the first match of the week. Every team wanted to get their win and mark themselves down in the final – allowing themselves to sit back and relax as the others filled the final’s lobby behind them.
Match One of this week was won by MultiCircle Gaming, who now will have taken part in five of the six Weekly Finals during this event. Their ticket to Weekly Final #6 was punched by “Lingduuu” after a clutch play against Meta Gaming.
Meta Gaming had their own fair share of highlight plays this past week, but unfortunately, the team was unable to secure a Chicken Dinner so their PGI.S run has come to an end. They were clearly one of the best teams competing this week, but the WWCD format can be harsh sometimes, and this week it burned Meta.
In the very next match, Gen.G showcased their pedigree and robbed Oath Gaming of a Chicken Dinner to advance into the Week Six Final. Outnumbered and forced to move away from the blue zone, Gen.G moved up underneath Oath as Phase 9 commenced. From there, “Inonix” delivered one of the most brilliant highlights of PGI.S so far.
It’s actually tough to even describe how incredible of a play this was from Inonix. He’s low on health and prone underneath two players of Oath who can move and peek from numerous angles. He walks slowly up the hill and hits a few shots that force Oath to take cover and heal. Once he locates and knocks the first enemy player, he now has the advantage on the final enemy, who is prone up against the blue zone. After receiving damage from Snakers, Inonix does the unexpected. With only 1HP, Inonix marched towards Snakers as he was healing and not expecting another exchange. One bullet made contact and Gen.G began celebrating their place in Weekly Final #6.
A couple of matches later that day, the back-to-back PCS Champions from North America found their Chicken Dinner to advance and compete this weekend. Soniqs withstood a three-man send from Virtus.pro who loaded into their vehicles as Phase 9 forced them towards the center of the zone.
With two cars flying overhead and three players jumping out with their weapons drawn, Soniqs still managed to hold their ground and eliminate Virtus.pro to secure their win. This highlight is a great one for our North American friends, but it’s just another bitter result in what would be VP’s final stage at PGI.S. The EU powerhouse would be unsuccessful in their remaining matches and depart from Korea without an appearance in the last Weekly Final. Undeniably one of the strongest teams at this event, VP are sure to be back competing on the international level in no time.
DAY TWO
The drama throughout the opening day of our last Weekly Survival was going to be tough to meet, but it didn’t seem to slow down on Day Two. Starting things off with the first match of the day, LongSkr provided another moment worthy of a spot on his highlight reel to carry Infantry into the Weekly Final. In the final zone with three players of Buriram United Esports directly in front of him, LongSkr moved out of the water and begin firing.
LongSkr managed to eliminate all three players of Buriram and find the lone member of DXG pushing across the zone. His reaction at the end of this highlight speaks volumes about how stressful and intense these matches were for everyone all week. With the odds drastically stacked against him, he finds a way to eliminate all final four enemies and advance to the Weekly Final.
Following a surprising mid-event roster swap, Shoot To Kill was sidelined for the past two Weekly Finals and forced to fight for placement in the Bottom 16. The optics of that decision only worsened as the final week of PGI.S approached considering the team had played in all three finals leading up to the roster move. It wasn’t as if STK began playing poorly, it’s just for a variety of reasons, STK could not take the Chicken Dinner required to advance into the final. Match 10 would be theirs for the taking, and another North American team would join the Weekly Finals.
DAY THREE
As the number of vacant spots in Weekly Final #6 decreased, the intensity to secure a spot in this weekend’s lobby skyrocketed. Only five winners would advance on Day Three as everyone else accepted the reality that this would be the last matches of their PGI.S journey.
To the surprise of everyone, entering Match 15 there were zero EU teams qualified for this weekend’s final. Putting the regional banter aside, not having one European representative in the grand finale of PUBG Esports’ largest event would have been a monumental failure. Thankfully for the teams who did advance, along with their stressed-out fanbase, two teams from the regions rounded out the final matches of Weekly Survival.
It just wouldn’t be a PUBG Esports major event without FaZe Clan. Their ability to fight off a regional rival and secure the fifteenth spot rendered an exceptional finish to the match. Facing one another with three standing on each side, FaZe Clan took advantage of their positioning and moved into the Weekly Final.
Fifteen of sixteen spots had been taken, and the final Weekly Survival match of the entire event would commence on Miramar. Only one of sixteen teams would advance, continuing their PGI.S run toward this weekend. Fifteen other teams would see their tournament come to an end here. The anticipation leading into this final match could not have been higher.
There were so many deserving teams when looking over the lobby of this final match. Every team at this event deserved to be here, but some had played considerably better throughout the week and their departure now seemed abrupt.
As for the winner, I suppose Team Liquid saved their best match for last.
In the most important match of the event, Team Liquid display an absolutely dominant performance and snag the final spot in this weekend’s finale. The team played confidently throughout and when the opportunity to win presented itself, TL didn’t choose to sit back and play it safe. This kind of win is exactly what we expect from a team like Liquid, and if they’re able to play similarly this weekend, we may be looking back at this match as the one that allowed TL to claim a Championship at PGI.S.