Ghost Gaming furthered the woes of The Guard today, recording a one-sided victory in their NA VCT Challengers Stage Two week two match-up. The Guard has now lost four straight series, and falls to 0-2 in group stage play.
The series started on Haven, with both teams showcasing new compositions, including a Fade pick by Ghost to mark her first NA VCT appearance on the map. Ghost took an early lead on defense on the shoulders of some overwhelming retakes, using Fade, Breach, and Astra utility to their advantage and claiming the first eight rounds of the map, leading to a massive 11-1 lead at half-time. Ghost wasted no time in the second half, taking the pistol round and the bonus to cement a dominant 13-1 win on Haven.
The Guard showed signs of stabilization on Ascent, with a strong defensive showing fueled by JonahP’s stellar performance on Jett. The Guard won nine straight rounds before Ghost finally answered, leading to a 10-2 scoreline at half-time. Ghost showed the same defensive prowess they showed on Haven, and began stringing together a comeback, but inevitably fell 13-8 once The Guard started managing some successful attack rounds.
The series turned to Fracture, with Ghost finally showing their attacking chops in the first half, while The Guard struggled to keep them off sites. However, The Guard took on a more proactive approach to defense later in the half, reducing the Ghost lead to just 7-5 before switching sides. Ghost claimed the second half pistol round on a sneaky defuse, and rebuilt the lead courtesy of koalanoob’s Chamber anchoring the sites.
Ghost avoids an 0-2 start with the win today, after falling to XSET in two maps during week one. For The Guard, the streak of losses continues, having lost their last four since defeating OpTic in the grand finals of the NA Stage One playoffs. The Guard is still looking to recover from their tough showing at Masters Reykjavík and their surprising week one loss to 100 Thieves.
