Peter "⁠ptr⁠" Gurney's side prevailed 3-2 in a rematch against Triumph to win ESEA Premier Season 36.

Bad News Bears have claimed victory in ESEA Premier Season 36 North America, fighting back from an 0-1 disadvatange in the best-of-five grand final against Triumph to secure a first place finish. The win sees ptr's troops become the second unsigned roster to earn a berth to ESL Pro League Season 14, following ex-Winstrike's win over SAW in the European grand final on Sunday.

"Words can't describe it man," ptr said in a post-game interview when asked how he felt about the victory. "Me and Jonji have been working for this moment for so long. We lost to INTZ last year, so it's just an amazing feeling. You know, I've played in pro teams in the past and stuff but just was already pro, but this was the first time that I actually earned it for myself. I fucking love my team."

Bad News Bears had a flawless run in the regular season, going undefeated in their group and becoming a prime candidate to win the playoffs after Extra Salt withdrew to attend a gamut of tournaments in Europe. After scoring two wins to kick off their playoff run, Bad News Bears were felled by Triumph in the upper bracket final, but fought past RBG in the consolidation final to set up a rematch.

Alan "⁠Shakezullah⁠" Hardeman's side dominated the early portions of both halves of their map pick, Nuke, to kick off the grand final; however, attrition from Bad News Bears allowed them to stay in contention and fight back, edging out a 16-14 victory to even the series score immediately. Inferno and Train were one-sided affairs as the two teams traded blows, leading to a Mirage decider with it all on the line.

Jonathan "⁠Jonji⁠" Carey, who was the team's best performer during the regular season but having a rough run during playoffs, was the catalyst in a stellar showing for Bad News Bears on Mirage. After being a pivotal factor in the first three maps of the series, the 21-year-old ran rampant on Triumph's defense for the first half as his team took nine rounds off the bat, with the rest of the roster stepping up to cut short any hopes of a comeback from Triumph and close out the map in swift fashion.

Triumph	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Austin 'Cooper' AbadirCooper	70 - 64	+6	69.4	1.06
Alan 'Shakezullah' HardemanShakezullah	60 - 64	-4	74.4	1.05
David 'cynic' Polstercynic	66 - 64	+2	74.5	1.03
Brendan 'Bwills' WilliamsBwills	63 - 63	0	67.2	1.00
Wesley 'viz' Harrisviz	57 - 71	-14	66.6	0.92

Bad News Bears	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jonathan 'Jonji' CareyJonji	82 - 73	+9	102.9	1.30
Peter 'ptr' Gurneyptr	71 - 52	+19	72.8	1.26
Michael 'Swisher' SchmidSwisher	67 - 67	0	66.8	1.00
Nick 'alter' Jacksonalter	57 - 67	-10	66.0	1.00
Gabe 'Spongey' GreinerSpongey	47 - 58	-11	48.6	0.82

The team list for ESL Pro League Season 14 now looks as follows:

ESEA Premier Season 36 North America final standings:

1. Bad News Bears - $20,000 + ESL Pro League S14 slot
2. Triumph - $12,500
3. RBG - $7,500
4. High Coast - $4,000
5-6. Recon 5 - $2,000
5-6. GGPR - $2,000
7-8. ChocoCheck - $1,000
7-8. Mythic - $1,000
9-10. Extra Salt*
9-10. OCG**
11-12. Rise
11-12. Secret Club
13. Third Impact
14. Eclipse
15. SKDC
16. Levitate
17-18. ImPerium
17-18. Watch This
19-20. The Commission
19-20. timbermen

* Extra Salt forfeited playoffs due to being in Europe
** OCG forfeited playoffs as they were unable to field a complete roster