The semifinals played out as expected— at least in one matchup. AG Knights proved too strong for EAVL, advancing with a 6-3 win. The second semifinal was much tighter, with Control pushing Gulf Coast Ragtag Army to the limit before falling 4-3.
The D2 championship was set: AG Knights versus Gulf Coast Ragtag Army.
By making it through to the final game, AG Knights were assured of both second place or better and another couple of months atop the D2 leaderboard. As it turned out, that’ s exactly what happened. This was one of the best matches of the event and it was brutal, close and a battle from start to finish. In the end it was Gulf Coast Ragtag Army with a well-earned 5-4 win.
Game. Set. Match. Tournament.
To date, 43 teams have played in at least one NXL Division Three Xball event. For the Midwest Open, 23 of those teams were present— and of those 23 teams, only seven have played all three events.
Coming into this event Legacy Gorillas were kings of the jungle( pun intended). Their two first-place wins in two 2026 events had them at the top of the D3 season rankings heading into Cincinnati. GTF Raiders, with their second and third place finishes in Tampa and Maryland was more than enough to not only position them in second place on the season leader-board, but also keep them close enough to climb into first place by the end of the weekend if things were to fall right for them. BR Factory, Smoke and Protocol were all just a few points back of GTF Raiders pre-Cincinnati.
In the preliminary rounds only one of the 23 teams won all four of their games— and that was Legacy Gorillas, to the shock on no one. Instagators, playing their first NXL event of the season, won three of their four games, as did Rejects, GTF Raiders, Smoke D3 and Outlaw AP Prime.
In the four team ochos, New England Storm beat WAR and Carolina Ronins sent Clutch City Oilers home early. Both would lose their quarterfinal round games. Also in the quarters, Legacy Gorillas, Instagators, Outlaw AP Prime and GTF Raiders would advance.
Photo by Nicholas Shaw
084 paintball. media magazine