Viperio Team Durham, the university CSGO team of Viperio, began competing in the National University Esports League’s (NUEL) Spring Championship tournament. Viperio were seeded highly, and were allocated Group 1 for Round 1 of the qualifying stage.
Round 1: Viperio Team Durham (5) vs Lancaster Quackheads (16)
Viperio were matched against Lancaster Quackeads, another highly seeded team for the first matchup of the Spring Championship qualifiers. The veto decided de_mirage as the map for the best of one series. Viperio, who started on the terrorist side won the pistol round and the following round, however Lancaster fought strong and managed to win most rifle rounds, resulting in them dominating the first half 4-11. Lancaster manage to win their terrorist pistol round, and consequently won the game 16-5 by putting pressure on Viperio’s CT economy. The match was also chosen to be streamed on the official NUEL Twitch page. Peak viewership was slightly above 300+ at one point during the series.
Round 2: Viperio Team Durham (19) vs Southampton Biscuits (15)
Viperio were matched up against Southampton Biscuits, who won their first game in Group 2. Viperio went into the match with confidence despite a loss just a few moments before. The first half was relatively even, with a close scoreline of 9-6 in favour of Southampton. Viperio then swapped to the CT side, and managed to catch up and create a small lead. The half ended a tie with a 15-15 scoreline. The match then went into overtime, which Viperio outperformed their opponents, winning 4 rounds in a row, ultimately taking the match 19-15.
Viperio Team Durham’s current record in the NUEL Spring Championship Qualifiers sits at 1W/1L, with the team in Group 2 for Round 3 of the qualifier. Despite the early loss, the team captain, Elliott Cawood commented:
“We were matched up against a tough opponent first round, and performed slightly below usual due to a long christmas break. We also had a stand-in with our manager Christopher playing instead of Regal or Prominate, who were both unavailable. Winning the 2nd match was a good boost foro team moral, and we’re confident we will be able to make playoffs if we continue to practice and perform like normal in the upcomming games.”
– Elliott Cawood, Captain Viperio Team Durham.
The teams next NUEL matches will take place on Tuesday 12th February. Our next fixtures are as follows:
Round 3: Viperio Team Durham (1W/1L) vs National Railway Museum, Uni of York (1W/1L)
Round 4: Viperio Team Durham vs TBA
