PUBG PCS5 Americas Week 3 highlights: Oath snap title with back-to-back wins

The PUBG Continental Series is winding down in the Americas, and we are heading into PGC with a new regional champion: Oath. Have they managed to overtake PGI.S champions Soniqs, or is NA flying into Korea with multiple title contenders?

For six Americas teams, their 2021 dreams came true as PCS5 Americas wrapped up in Week 3. However, some who missed out on their tickets to Korea by as little as a Chicken Dinner.

No matter if you’re supporting Spacestation Gaming scraping in by $1,000, or Three Hundred and Gascans rueing your losses after close calls on Day 2 ⁠— jubilation and heartbreak led the storylines in Week 3 as PGC nears.

Plus, the race for the title of NA’s best team is heating up, with two clear leaders, and a potential third dark horse rising up after an impressive two weeks.

Have Oath taken Soniqs’ crown?

PCS5 was the battle between Soniqs and Oath. While the PCS4 and PGI.S champions had a solid start, the world champions have been beaten not once, but twice by Oath in NA recently.

Soniqs had a rough start to PCS5 Americas Week 3, with only one top 10 finish in their first five games. It felt like teams were trying to fight Soniqs on every spot, and they sometimes leaned too far into the aggressive play (after all, they don’t have as much to play for this week).

However, when it counted Soniqs proved they are still the best PUBG team in NA ⁠— and likely the world. A huge Day 2 featured massive kills in every game, a third place, and a first. They threw themselves into fights strategically and won, disrupting the runs of some of their rivals (intentionally or not).

Oath is on a hot streak right now, and it’s hard to ignore their PCS5 victory. It would also be wrong to downplay it, especially after their massively consistent Week 2 and 3 performances. Are they better than Soniqs overall though? It remains to be seen: PGC will be the decider of that storyline.

FIUMBA is a fighting chance for LATAM at PGC

LATAM isn’t really considered a strong region, but FIUMBA is one team that has the chance to turn that perception around. They have managed to stand strong against the best in NA, dropping huge kill games in wins and losses.

Their insane navigation of Match 10 ⁠— when they managed to fight off Black Tiger, Dignitas, and Soniqs from taking over their end-game spot ⁠— shows that they have the gun skill to stay with the world’s best.

However, the general macro play of Latin American teams has been lacking all PCS5. While Trogloditas and Young Kings have been successful in the past, none of the squads have managed to get consistent top-five performances like FIUMBA in PCS5. It’s a good sign for the region, who will have a strong team to get behind at the Global Championship.

Are Dignitas hitting their stride at the right time?

After PGI.S, the then-Zenith Esports roster underwent a major transformation after their second place finish. Gone were Kickstart and Roth who bolstered Oath Gaming; Poonage and Shinboi had to rebuild their squad from scratch.

Picking up new IGL HoneyBadger and Brazilian superstar Sparkingg, it was an ambitious project. However, After warming up to the competition in PCS4, they are starting to hit their stride in PCS5.