Tainted Minds emerge victorious over Dark Sided in the grand final of the Australian Esports Masters Season 1 Finals.

The two-day Australian event took place in the weekend with eight teams in attendance and $9,000 AUD (~$6,705) in prize pool. The teams were split into two groups, utilising a notorious best-of-three round-robin format.

In the morning group, Legacy OCE went 3-0 and comfortably secured their playoffs spot. Peter "⁠BL1TZ⁠" Athanasatos' Funky Monkeys managed to grab the second spot, after Riotous Raccoons gave them a run for their money. Dark Sided finished on top of the afternoon group convincingly, followed by Tainted Minds, who survived their last match of day 1, defeating Skyfire 2-1.

Tainted Minds return to winning ways, as they claim the first AEM title

Heading into the playoffs, Jesse "⁠InfrequeNt⁠" Barker's crew overcame Legacy OCE from behind in the first semis 2-1, despite Matthew "⁠mattcd⁠" Lenard's efforts to prevent the inevitable outcome, who had the highest rating (1.42) at the event. Meanwhile, Dark Sided took care of Funky Monkeys 2-1 in the other semi-final, following a surprising 6-16 defeat on their pick in the second map, Cache.

The grand final kicked off with a crazy triple overtime on the first map, Mirage, which went in the way of Matthew "⁠Texta⁠" O'Rourke's side 25-23, where he dropped 50 frags on the server. Unfortunately, Dark Sided lost their chance to finish off their opponent after a 15-13 lead on Overpass, as Dylan "⁠kyoto⁠" Brown's men clinched the second map 19-17. A team effort from Tainted Minds on the CT side, sealed the deal on Inferno 16-6, as they successfully extracted their revenge in the three-map thriller, 2-1.

Australian Esports Masters Season 1 FinalsBest of 3 Tainted MindsMatchpage 2 1 2nd July 2017 Dark Sided 23Mirage 25 19Overpass 17 16Inferno 6

Broken tag

Broken tag

Australian Esports Masters Season 1 Final Standings:

1. Tainted Minds - $3,000 AUD (~$2,275)
2. Dark Sided - $2,000 AUD (~$1,515)
3-4. Legacy OCE - $1,000 AUD (~$760)
3-4. Funky Monkeys - $1,000 AUD (~$760)
5-8. AVANT - $500 AUD (~$380)
5-8. Riotous Raccoons - $500 AUD (~$380)
5-8. Skyfire - $500 AUD (~$380)
5-8. Tainted Black - $500 AUD (~$380)

Photo credit: PGTV Media's dogryan100

Tainted Black Caleb 'klebz' LeungZac 'Hazz' WoodhamLuke 'ekul' BlakeyScott 'Scoot' AndersonAsher 'Aycer' Leung Matthew 'mattcd' Lenard Age: 23 Team: Legacy OCE Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 99 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.59 AVANT #156 Jordan 'krudeN' HillAlec 'Noisia' GulabovskiGeorgio 'sK' PoumpoulidisRaymond 'Dezibel' OdishoSteve 'InJect' Honan Dark Sided #63 Sam 'flickz' JonesMatthew 'Texta' O'RourkeMitchell 'Sync' DaleWillem 'badger' ClarkeOllie 'DickStacy' Tierney Dylan 'kyoto' Brown Age: 18 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 117 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.66 Matthew 'Texta' O'Rourke Age: 15 Team: Dark Sided Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 91 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.71 Skyfire #180 Reece 'Squishy' LineyMitchell 'pilski' PilipowskiDimitri 'FaSHo' FerreiraMatthew 'ren' BeanJoseph 'ECH0' Ferreira Jesse 'InfrequeNt' Barker Age: 22 Team: Tainted Minds Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 193 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.64 Tainted Minds #95 Chris 'ofnu' HanleyConnor 'chuch' MorganJesse 'InfrequeNt' BarkerDylan 'kyoto' BrownMike 'ap0c' Aliferis Peter 'BL1TZ' Athanasatos Age: 24 Team: Funky Monkeys Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 75 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.69 Funky Monkeys #135 Peter 'BL1TZ' AthanasatosAndrew 'YDNA' AdamsMartin 'waffe' ChanHugh 'HUGH' AndersonGeoffrey 'yorimato' Tran Riotous Raccoons #162 Gary 'kalth' HowardDaylan 'goa' FabbroJay 'JDK' EckermannEuan 'sterling' MooreJireh 'J1rah' Youakim Legacy OCE #93 Michael 'Lightstep' HallKyran 'dizzyLife' CrombieChris 'CHRiSOAOW' FormanDale 'deoxiDE' CartaMatthew 'mattcd' Lenard