The match also had relegation implications. Though New York Xtreme had defeated NRG at the beginning of the event, they went on to not one, but two mercy matches, losing 6-0 to both Infamous and Uprising. On Saturday afternoon, the future of NYX was very much in question. They were protected by a whopping 14th place finish in Texas. As a result of that 14th, NYX came into Cup in 17th place overall, a mere 68 points over their Virginia Beach rivals, NRG Elite. Anything less than a 17th place finish at Cup was going to result in a drop out of the Pro Division for NRG. But if they managed a higher finish, they had a chance to preserve their run.
Starting their weekend with a win over NRG was probably all that Xtreme was looking for, and a tough blow to NRG. But, they stayed stubborn, hung around, and actually ended up finishing better than all of the single-event international squads, Aftermath, Aftershock, and the Royal City Seadogs meaning the discussion of relegation literally came down to margins.
After Infamous trounced Xtreme 6-0, and NRG then rallied to beat Infamous 3-1, there was a glimmer of hope for them on the horizon.
So ac: Diesel’ s wildly unenthusiastic win over Leverage was their second prelim victory, earning them the extra five points that they needed to steal away that 17th spot, close the door on NRG’ s hopes, and spare New York Xtreme from a second consecutive relegation.
Coming into Sunday, it was truly anyone’ s tournament to win. The Ochos were stacked with heavy hitters that demonstrated their dominance in clear fashion. Damage knocked the rookies, Leverage, out of contention in a 6-0 mercy match that felt like a statement welcome to the big boys club. X-Factor then followed suit, knocking off Joy Division in an 8-2. The TonTons set fire to the field in their 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Ironmen. And Uprising couldn’ t find an answer for the quick attack of Ronnie Dizon, and Houston Heat came away from the scrap with a 3-1 win for a berth into the quarterfinals.
Photo By John Amodea
074 paintball. media magazine