SAW defeated Tricked in the ESEA Advanced Season 34 best-of-five grand final despite starting a map down to clinch a spot in the upcoming MDL season.

Tricked and SAW reached the ESEA Advanced grand final after 16 regular season fixtures followed by a double-elimination 16-team playoff. The Danish squad made it all the way through the upper bracket with victories over CR4ZY, Sangal, Secret and a forfeit win against Ambush, while SAW were sent down to the lower bracket by Secret in their third playoff match. Starting their lower bracket run in the semis, the Portuguese squad beat Tikitakan, Nexus and took revenge on Secret to secure a spot in the tournament’s grand final where they would have to start with a map disadvantage.

The best-of-five grand final started off on one of SAW’s map picks, Vertigo, which Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes and company were able to get an early 6-0 lead on, although they deflated as Tricked won seven out of the last nine rounds on the defense to bring it back to a close 7-8 at the half. It looked like all was lost for SAW, trailed throughout the second half, but an in-extremis five-round streak brought the map to overtime. The Iberian squad’s late-game push ended up bearing fruits, as they came out on top in OT to tie the series up.

Tricked were the ones to set the pace early on in Train, going up 5-1 on the attacking side, although it was SAW who turned it around to lead 8-7 at the half. Both teams kept shoulder-to-shoulder in the second half, but late in the map SAW sprinted past Tricked with a three-round streak to hit match point, 15-12, closing it out two rounds later to take the lead in the series, 2-1.

Tricked were first out of the gate on the defending side of Inferno, although SAW kept it close and neither could impose their pace early on. A strong performance by Tiago "⁠JUST⁠" Moura, who recorded 17 kills before the half, was crucial for the Portuguese team to keep things close before the switch, as they ended trailing by one, 7-8. SAW took the second pistol round and started to run away with the series, going up 11-8 and remaining in control all the way to a 16-11 finish, winning ESEA Advanced and earning a promotion to MDL.

Tricked	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Oliver 'kwezz' Rasmussenkwezz	76 - 63	+13	94.2	1.22
Dennis 'sycrone' Nielsensycrone	54 - 64	-10	73.7	0.96
Andreas 'kiR' KirsteinkiR	60 - 64	-4	69.7	0.95
Magnus 'Toft' ToftToft	59 - 66	-7	64.2	0.88
Philip 'Lucky' EwaldLucky	43 - 65	-22	52.4	0.74

SAW	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Tiago 'JUST' MouraJUST	71 - 63	+8	91.9	1.29
Renato 'stadodo' Gonçalvesstadodo	72 - 55	+17	80.5	1.25
Ricardo 'roman' Oliveiraroman	63 - 59	+4	78.3	1.09
Christopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesMUTiRiS	65 - 57	+8	73.1	1.08
Omar 'arki' Chakkorarki	51 - 59	-8	57.5	0.92

The ESEA Advanced Season 34 playoff standings are:

1. SAW - $4,500 + MDL S35
2. Tricked - $3,000 + MDL S34 Relegation
3. Secret - $2,500 + MDL S34 Relegation
4. Nexus - $2,000 + MDL S34 Relegation
5-6.Ambush - $750
5-6. Tikitakan - $750
7-8. LDLC - $750
7-8. Winstrike - $750
9-12. Lilmix
9-12. Apeks
9-12. TheDice
9-12. Sangal
13-16. CR4ZY
13-16. Tenerife Titans
13-16. lvlUP
13-16. BRUTE

The three teams from ESEA Advanced that made it to the MDL Season 34 Relegation, which will take place in August, will play against the bottom four finishers in MDL, the top four teams from the Climber Cup, and an invited squad for three available slots in the upcoming MDL season.

The MDL Season 34 Relegation teams confirmed so far are: