With just a few weeks left in the North American Esports Championship Series, Week 6 marked the beginning of crunch time for several teams hoping to move up in the standings and take advantage of league leaders Cloud9 on the sidelines for the week.
SK Gaming broke free from its run of mediocrity, starting with a 2-0 win against Counter Logic Gaming on Tuesday. Game 1 on Cache was close in the early stages, but CLG managed to string together some late runs on the T-side to go into the second half with a 9-6 lead. SK Gaming came alive in the second half, however, only giving CLG one round win, thanks in large part to Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo's mastery of the AWP, sniping his way to a 23/14 KD (kills/deaths) and a 102.2 ADR (average damage per round) as SK took Game 1 with a 16-10 win. Game 2 on Cache threatened to be a blowout early on as SK went on a decent run in the first half, relying on Fernando "fer" Alvarenga to come out of the half with a 9-6 lead. CLG held firm, though, recovering in the second half with a 9-6 half score. Led by Ethan "nahtE" Arnold's game-high 100.6 ADR, CLG looked poised to take the game in overtime, but SK Gaming had none of it. Taking four rounds in convincing fashion, SK Gaming completed the 2-0 series score with a 19-15 win.
Renegades hoped to climb the ladder by taking down OpTic Gaming on Wednesday, but faced a tough fight in Game 1 on Nuke. Renegades powered to a 10-5 first half lead on the back of a strong showing from Karlo "USTILO" Pivac, who finished the game with a 32/24 KD and devastating 102.1 ADR. OpTic responded, however, with a 10-5 half of its own, forcing the game into overtime. In the end, Renegades held firm, securing a 19-16 win in a thrilling start to the series. Renegades kept up its momentum heading into Game 2 on Cobblestone, holding on to an 8-7 lead going into the second half. Unfortunately for Renegades, OpTic came into its own in the second half once again, dominating its T-side half with a clinic on how coordinated T-side pushes should be made. All of OpTic shined in its 16-14 win, maintaining its spot in second place.
After taking down Ghost in a tight series on Wednesday, Team Liquid looked to stop SK Gaming's momentum, but fell short throughout the series. In Game 1 on Mirage, SK looked comfortably in control, thanks to Fernando "fer" Alvarenga's hot hand, finishing with a whopping 117.8 ADR. After taking a 9-6 lead into the second half, SK put the finishing touches on a 16-12 win that wasn't as close as the score might indicate. SK Gaming had a phenomenal start to Game 2 on Cobblestone, going on a tear in the first half. With standout performances from Marcelo "coldzera" David, fer, and Joao "felps" Vasconcellos, SK took a score of 11-4 into the second half, where it struggled initially before closing out the 16-10 victory for the 2-0 sweep.
At the end of the week, Cloud9 remains in first place with 33 points, followed by OpTic Gaming and SK Gaming with 27 points apiece. Team Liquid rounds out the top four spots that will get a berth in the playoffs at 24 points, followed by Renegades, CLG, and NRG Esports at fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively. There's little time to rest for the teams, however, as the next week of play begins with SK Gaming taking on Cloud9 Friday at 6 p.m ET.