The Florida Mutineers Home Series ended with a bang as the New York Subliners won out over the Dallas Empire in a close grudge match. New York Subliners star James “Clayster” Eubanks played his former team in a close 3-2 win where Mackenzie “Mack” Kelley had the series of life. .
There was animosity on both sides of this match. Clayster seems to still have a chip on his shoulder after being dropped by Dallas prior to the 2021 season. He shot new Empire member Reece “Vivid” Drost’s body in the first Search and Destroy, leading to some explosive moments throughout the series.
It was New York who got the last laugh, though, with Mack finishing with a 1.27 KD and two maps with 40 kills to lead his team to victory.
Mack and the New York Subliners win over Dallas
No one seems to know what to make of Dallas in Stage 4. They benched Tyler “FeLo” Johnson for Vivid and the team has been performing inconsistently for the majority of the season. Sometimes it seems they can recapture the magic from 2020 and other times it seems like they truly miss the recently departed Cuyler “Huke” Garland.
Today was a time it seemed like the Empire could return to form. They were up 2-1 after a huge Search and Destroy and Control rounds from Vivid. It looked like Clayster shooting his body in the Search and Destroy rubbed him the wrong way. He dropped 10 kills in the Search and another 32 in the Control to put Dallas in the driver’s seat.
Today we learned what happens when you shoot @VividTheWarrior's body pic.twitter.com/hK28EmTfE1
— Dallas Empire (@DallasEmpire) June 6, 2021
However, the man of the match was Mack. The second-year player dropped two 40-kill performances in both Hardpoints, with over 7,300 damage in the first, and clutched up huge in the final Search and Destroy to seal the map and series. He posted a 1.27 KD overall in the match, the highest across either team.
“The way he’s been playing recently is phenomenal,” Clayster said in the post-match interview. “He’s had to role switch twice now, he got benched for a couple of days, so for him to come back and play the way he has been, I’m so proud of him. He’s definitely showing me why ZooMaa wanted him on the team so badly.”
Coming out strong to start off Map 4. #NYSL pic.twitter.com/pc4XZUhfsH
— Subliners (@Subliners) June 6, 2021
The Subliners will need Mack to keep playing at this level if they want a chance at winning the Stage 4 Major. Dallas still needs some work before anyone takes them seriously as contenders.
