The Update: April 22

By: Zachary Lange 

Here is The Update for April 22:

Samsora claims fourth at Pound 2019

After finishing top-12 last week at Prime Saga, Ezra “Samsora” Morris traveled to Laurel, Maryland to earn a fourth place finish in the singles event at Pound 2019.

Samsora began play in singles by winning seven consecutive sets in preliminary pool play, working his way to the top-12 with an unblemished record.

In the first round of the winners bracket among the final dozen competitors, however, the Peach main was defeated 3-1 by Myran. After bouncing back with a losers bracket win over Salem, 3-1, Samsora ran into trouble against Marss of Panda Global. In a Game 5 scenario, a last stock thriller went the way of Marss, as Samsora bowed out of the competition.

Over 800 people entered into the Smash: Ultimate singles bracket, classifying it as an A tier event by Panda Global Rankings.

Samsora participated in three events over the weekend, battling through brackets in singles, doubles and strike squad – an event where five different selected characters battle in a single game.

In all, he went a whopping 23-6 in sets played between events.

Counter Strike comes up short at DreamHack Open Rio

A trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the DreamHack Open: Rio tournament ended in tough fashion for eUnited as the team lost two, closely contested matches to finish 7-8th.

Play at the Parque Olímpico began Friday with a barn burner, best-of-one set versus HLTV No. 16 AVANGAR. Falling down 14-12 late in the game on Inferno, eUnited won three of four late rounds to force an initial overtime period.

In overtime, neither side budged. Heading all the way to triple-overtime, a late T-side push by eUnited proved to be ineffective as the team lost 25-23. Anthony “vanity” Malaspina led the team with various flashy plays, ending the game at the top of the leaderboard with 43 kills.

In an elimination match on Saturday, eUnited lost to FURIA 2-0 (16-13 Inferno, 16-8 Nuke) to be sent home packing. In the grand finals, AVANGAR defeated FURIA to claim the title.

After a few days back stateside, the squad will head down under to play at IEM Sydney beginning April 30.

SMITE faces Trifecta Thursday

Standing at the top of the table, eUnited SMITE will look to remain undefeated with a tilt against Trifecta Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

For eUnited (2-0), shaking off the rust after nearly two weeks off from play in the SMITE Pro League will be crucial for team success.

All matches can be watched on the official HiRez Studios’ Mixer channel.