T1’s Braxton “Brax” Pierce put together an incredible performance during T1’s North American First Strike closed qualifier match against rising squad Dignitas, in a tightly contested opening group stage match.

After losing to Dignitas in Game 1 on Haven with a 11-13 score, T1 dug down deep and continued to trade rounds against DIG in the next map on Ascent. There, Brax secured two clutch Aces that lifted T1 to a 13-11 Game 2 victory.

First, Brax showcased how to properly execute lurk plays as Cypher.

After making his way into mid-bottom, DIG’s Chad “Oderus” Miller tried to catch Brax by surprise with a Tail Wind and Updraft maneuver. But Brax was able to lock-on to the enemy Jett, and then took down another enemy agent by mid-pizza.

While the rest of T1 made their move to the B-site for the spike plant, Brax charged straight into the defenders’ spawn and eliminated the remaining DIG agents for his first Ace of the game.



Brax then pushed his team to victory after winning an Ace-versus-Ace duel against DIG’s Phat “supamen” Le’s Omen.

With T1 down 11-10 on the scoreboard, DIG went for an eco-rush play on the B-site. But Brax quickly shut the enemy team’s aggressive play by taking down four enemy agents, while holding his ground on the stairs of the B-site. However, supamen managed to get behind enemy lines and took down four T1 agents that turned it into a duel for the Ace.

But even with less health remaining, Brax managed to take down the remaining DIG player, which would then allow T1 to win the final two rounds to even the series 1-1.

T1 emerged victorious from another hard fought battle in the final game of the series, with a 13-11 final score on Bind. T1 are now set to face Immortals next, with the winner moving on to the closed qualifier playoffs.

Meanwhile, for Dignitas, after winning their elimination match against Pittsburg Knights, the team is set to compete in a decider match with the loser of the T1 versus Immortal best-of-three series.

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