Rare Atom sweep Never Say Never

Coming into the ESL Challenger League Season 48 Relegation: Asia as the only invited team in the event, Rare Atom took on Never Say Never in the second upper-bracket semi-final in the first stage of the event. Rare Atom are coming into the event following an early exit in the Opening Stage of the Perfect World Shanghai 2024 Major.

Starting on the T-side of Dust2, Rare Atom conceded the initial couple of rounds and then recovered to trade their way to an even 6-6 half. Going into the second half, they once against conceded the pistol and anti-eco, giving a momentary lead to Never Say Never, before gearing up and putting on six rounds in a row to close out Dust2 13-9, going 1-0 up in the series.

The second map took us to Anubis where once again the first half was drawn 6-6, after Rare Atom recovered from a Shaky start. This time around, Never Say Never looked comfortable to close out the map and extend the series but their 4 rounds streak came to an abrupt end as Rare Atom stacking rounds quickly, reaching match point ahead of Never Say Never.

Rare Atom edged out Never Say Never 13-11 and the Chinese side will advance to the upper-bracket final where they face THE, who took down Noobs But Diligent in the first round. A win in the upper-bracket final confirms a second stage slot. Never Say Never will face Noobs But Diligent in the lower-bracket semi-final with their backs against elimination.