Renewal have emerged victorious from the ESEA Season 37 Open APAC Playoffs after defeating ZIGMA in the grand final.
ESEA Season 37 Open APAC Playoffs have come to a close, with Renewal claiming a strong 2-0 victory (Inferno 16-11, Dust2 16-13) over Thailand’s ZIGMA. As a result, Renewal took home the US$2,500 top prize while ZIGMA got US$1,500 for their troubles.
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The 37th season of ESEA Open APAC began on May 3 and lasted for 8 weeks, drawing 44 teams to compete in the seasonal tournament. Renewal, Team NKT, and Checkmate were among the notable Asian teams that competed. Meanwhile, Mauritius, Guam, and Qatar were the new nations that debuted this season.
Asking Questions took off ARTiSAN Esports in the process. The Singaporean team, however, was unable to conquer ZIGMA, who had defeated Team NKT in the earlier round. Meanwhile, Renewal beat Checkmate in a decisive fashion to get to the grand final versus the Thai squad.
The Grand Final – ZIGMA vs Renewal
Despite CigaretteS‘ phenomenal performance against the favorite to ensure a nine-round win streak on the T side, Renewal were able to reinitiate their strategy and win the first map by a razor-thin margin of 16-11.
Dust2, the second map, had more of a back-and-forth battle between the two teams. Renewal prevented the Thai from gaining any advantage before the end of the first half, finishing the first half with a lead of 10-5. In the second half, ZIGMA turned things around with everyone on the squad putting on a show to tie the score 10-10 only until rate awoke and helped his side win the map 16-13 and the series 2-0.
ESEA Season 37 Open APAC Playoffs final standings:
| Place | Team | Prize |
| 1st | ?? Renewal | US$2,500 |
| 2nd | ?? ZIGMA | US$1,000 |
| 3rd-4th | ?? Asking Questions | – |
| 3rd-4th | ?? Checkmate | – |
| 5th-8th | ? Team NKT | – |
| 5th-8th | ? ARTiSAN Esports | – |
| 5th-8th | ?? ARAVT | – |
| 5th-8th | ?? Goodfellas Gaming | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? SNRG | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? Headshot eSports | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? Latte Esports | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? RedViperZ | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? Redemptions | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? DoNotDisturbLa | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? NoTeamTag | – |
| 9th-16th | ?? maGicDV | – |
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Cover photo by Team Renewal
