Nick J. January 24, 2020
The final matchup of the WINNERS League Season 3 North America division is now set. INTZ Esports and Swole Patrol will go head-to-head for the Season 3 title.
Both teams finished the regular season with 6-1 records, but INTZ has been the standout performer during the playoff stage. The Brazillian team hasn't dropped a map throughout the playoffs, defeating Team Divine, Triumph, and Riot Squad 2-0 in the stage's best-of-three matchups.
Swole Patrol hasn't been quite as dominant. That said, Braxton "swag" Pierce and company secured a comfortable win in their semifinal matchup against Team Singularity despite dropping the first map in the best of three.
Swag hasn't shined as brightly as he usually does, but Swole Patrol newcomer Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik has picked up the slack and looked stellar. Subroza has steadily improved since his return to CSGO in October, averaging a 1.34 rating and a 95.3 average damage per round throughout the month of January.
Swole Patrol will need everything that Subroza has, alongside solid performances from his teammates to take down an INTZ team that has a knack for winning close games. The North Americans are expected to play the following roster against INTZ:
- Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik
- Matthew "WARDELL" Yu
- Jake "kaboose" McDonald
- Jason "neptune" Tran
- Braxton "swag" Pierce
INTZ favored against Swole Patrol in WINNERS League S3 grand finals
INTZ is a beast of a team right now, and the Betway odds show it. While their map wins have been closer in round differential than Swole Patrol, taking close games is a skill. With 2-0 victories throughout playoffs, INTZ has been getting the better of opponents on their own maps, something that Swole Patrol has struggled to do.
- Marcelo "chelo" Cespedes
- Ricardo "boltz" Prass
- Alexandre "xand" Zizi
- Bruno "shz" Martinelli
- Gustavo "yel" Knittel
- Alessandro “Apoka” Marcucci
What's more interesting is that INTZ doesn't have a standout performer like Swole Patrol's Subroza. In their three playoff matchups in Season 3 of WINNERS League, a different player has taken the top spot in each of them. boltz, xand, shz have all contributed heavily to INTZ's success over the past weeks.
If one of those three comes into the series hot, fans will see a pretty even matchup in the grand finals. But if a combination of boltz, xand, and shz perform well at the same time? The North American side might have to head back to the gym and try again. There is a serious chance that INTZ could take the grand final in two maps if Swole Patrol doesn't do their homework.
The grand final of the North American WINNERS League division is set for January 24 at 6 p.m. EST. Fans can catch all the grand finals action, including the WINNERS League European grand finals, on the official WINNERS League Twitch channel.