This was the penultimate week of the group stages, with some teams now locking in their spots in playoffs, and others unfortunately being left behind. There's only one week left of the group stage, so make sure you check out the path to playoffs at the bottom to see how your favourite team can make it!
And as always, take a look at the recap video for the broad strokes!
Europe
At the start of the season, Europe Group B looked to be one of the most competitive we have seen so far at ESL Impact, and it's certainly showing it! The opening match saw BIG Equipa take on Most Valuable Players, a match-up that had a lot on the line for both teams.
It started off well for BIG Equipa, who looked very comfortable on their opponent's map pick of Inferno. A dominant CT side would see AWPer Zana put up 22 kills in the first half, making it more than easy to close out the map when the sides switched. Things got a bit more interesting moving onto Nuke, where MVP started on the CT side and had a very strong showing, reaching double digits before the switch. An incredible T side led by kr4sy allowed them to upset and push the third map. Dust II has frequently been the map of choice for MVP, and their prowess was on display as they put up a brick wall defence against BIG Equipa, taking the map 16:10 and the series. This win now equalises their score with BIG Equipa, meaning the final week will determine the fates of both teams for playoffs!
Over in Group A it was a much more straightforward affair between NIP and NOFEAR5. The first time these two teams met, NOFEAR5 looked much more confident in the server, but it was the reverse this time around! A must win game for NIP to stay in the running, they showed they can step up when needed, taking the fight directly to NOFEAR5 on their pick of Dust II, led by an incredible performance by 7licious. The Ninja's pick of Vertigo looked much improved as well, with a double digit T side setting them up for a comfortable close - helped out significantly by some incredible clutches from ASTRA. This win now leaves both teams fighting for the playoff spot in the final week.
Another series that surprised was between NAVI Javelins and Astralis, with the latter having looked particularly impressive in the prior week versus BIG Equipa. However, against NAVI they fell flat, with Liina and Hanka running over them on their pick of Ancient. The Javelins continue their Nuke domination, kicked off with a beautiful 1v3 on the pistol from vicu. The AWPer for NAVI would go on to run rampant over Astralis, finishing the 16:7 map with 28 kills!
Nigma Galaxy and Entropiq Queens battled it out in the final match-up of Europe, and put on quite a show at that! The Queens got off to a great start on Mirage, with pavlla winning a few key early clutches. NGX bounced back to close the half 9:6, and after picking up the pistol and second round it looked like they would run away with the game. Once the guns came out though, Entropiq found their footing and only dropped one round on their way to 14. The map in touching distance, they weren't quite able to close despite pavlla's best efforts, and after Nigma Galaxy denied map point off pistol round, the wind was knocked from the Queens sails as they conceded the map. Momentum was then fully with the Nigma Galaxy squad, as they took their pick of Inferno with ease.
South America
Our first match in South America took place between MIBR and EndGame. For EndGame, this one was a necessary win, as a loss would put MIBR up to 4 wins and make it impossible for EndGame or INDEPENDENCE to come close. And EndGame certainly showed they were here to play! A fantastic start on a surprise pick of Inferno saw them take 9 rounds on their T side. Unfortunately, tides would change with the half, with MIBR running up 7 rounds in a row before EndGame could fight back. Josi in particular was a thorn in the side of the defence and set MIBR to take the map. Moving to Dust II, and this time it was chjna4Q causing chaos on the T side, setting them up for a double digit half that was easily converted on the CT side for an MIBR 2-0.
The other defining game for Group B was between B4 Esports and INDEPENDENCE. With the former looking flawless so far this season, it looked to be a difficult match for INDEPENDENCE. And B4 certainly didn't make it easy for them! Starting out on Ancient, it was another poppins pop-off alongside yungher, as they went to town, picking up 10 on the CT side. A flawless 5-0 start on the attack took them to an early map point which they had no issue closing from. Onto B4's pick of Overpass and they looked even stronger, dropping just 3 rounds on their T side, which would be all they would lose, as they took the series 2-0.
In Group A, FURIA took the fight to w7m esports, who have recently been on a stunning run of form and are angling for that second playoff spot. It was an early struggle for w7m on their map pick of Vertigo, with the usual suspects of Olga and kaah doing the work for FURIA. The second half didn't start well for w7m either, who were down 14:3 before they got on a good run championed by bokor. Unfortunately, it was too little too late, and it didn't take too long for FURIA to find their last two rounds. Onto Mirage and FURIA showed why they are to be feared on the map, as izaa shone on both sides of the server for a 16:5 victory and the series win, locking FURIA in at the top spot of Group A.
The last series of South America put Black Dragons against Parabellum in a must win for both teams. Unfortunately for Parabellum, they were met by the unbreakable defence of Black Dragons on Dust II, with annaEX and Le seemingly able to do nothing wrong. A good run of rounds from Parabellum at the tail end of the first half was not enough to stem the tides, and Black Dragons closed it out with ease when the sides switched. Moving to Mirage, and Babs went bananas, with 22 kills on the T side alone! It seemed nothing could be done to stop her and the rest of the Black Dragons, as they took the map 16:7 with Babs ending on 31 kills and taking the series.
North America
In the last recap I noted that Group B of NA remained wide open - but both ECHO and Hot Flash would need to have flawless runs for the rest of the season if either wished to make playoffs. So, how did they go?
Starting off with ECHO, they were matched up against Evil Geniuses, who have looked unstoppable so far this season. ECHO got off to a great start on their map pick of Dust II, up 6:1 before EG could get on a good run, and even closing the half with 9 T rounds. They would only get the first 2 rounds of the CT side however, and from that point it was all EG. Milk in particular looked phenomenal, ending the map with 27 kills and a 2.08 KD ratio. Inferno was also quite back and forth, with ECHO just edging out the half. At the swap it was again the EG show, with empathy stepping up, as well as closing the series out with a 1v2.
For Hot Flash, they also had a difficult mountain to climb in Please Send Bocks. The veto favoured the latter as well, with Hot Flash picking into Overpass, the default pick of the Bocks for most of the season. This resulted in a dominant 12:3 CT side from Please Send Bocks, led largely by Senna and Kimmy. Hot Flash fought back valiantly on their defence, with erin in particular looking fantastic, but it wasn't enough to work back from their T side. Dust II looked to be even more of a struggle, with a strong T side from the Bocks setting them up for a flawless CT side to close, with Kimmy putting up 13 kills each half!
In Group A, unfortunately Reversal forfeit their game against CLG Red, though even if they had played and pulled off the upset, it would not have changed their prospects for playoffs, nor that of CLG Red, so has no impact on the standings.
However, a game that did have plenty of impact took place between Valkyries and Saints! Both teams were sitting on 2-2 records, and both are strong candidates for the second playoff position on offer alongside CLG Red. In their first outing, it was a 2-1 victory to the Saints, with a double OT thrown in the mix on map 2. This time around, Overpass was nowhere near the double OT nailbiter of week 2, with the Valkyries triple threat of kyler, Blender and Galy denying any room for Saints to breathe on their map pick. The momentum continued onto Ancient, where Valkyries won out the half 8:7, though lisa on the Saints side made them work for it! Once on the defence, Valkyries couldn't be broken, dropping just one round as they took the series.
The Dawn of the Final Week Approaches
Talk about an exciting finish! Out of all 6 regional groups, only one is completely locked in going into the final week. This sets us up for an incredibly exciting - and important - last week of games!
This week MIBR and Please Send Bocks joined the list of playoff teams, which currently includes Nigma Galaxy, NAVI Javelins, FURIA, B4 Esports, CLG Red, and Evil Geniuses. As a quick refresh, four teams from each region will enter the regional playoffs, where the top team from Group A plays the second team from Group B and vice versa. This is a single elimination Best of 3, where the winner of each matchup will qualify for the Season 2 Finals at DreamHack Winter!
Here is how each region looks going into the last week of groups.
In Europe, Nigma Galaxy and NAVI Javelins both lock in top spots in their groups. In Group A, the fate of NIP is decided, even if they can take down Entropiq Queens 2-0, and if NOFEAR5 are beaten by Nigma Galaxy without picking up a map. As NOFEAR5 have more total map wins, they will lock in the second spot.
In Group B, it's a little more messy. Both MVP and BIG Equipa sit 2-3, which means if one wins and the other loses, the winner will go to playoffs. If they both win and sit at 3-3, BIG Equipa will edge out with an additional map win in the head to head - so 2/3 scenarios favour BIG! The fourth possible outcome is that both MVP and BIG Equipa lose, which will then put them alongside Astralis at 2-4. At this stage it gets very complex, but will likely favour BIG Equipa in the map head to head across all teams.
North America is thankfully quite simple! Group B is already completely locked in, and we already have one of our playoff match-ups in the calendar - CLG Red vs Please Send Bocks. Evil Geniuses await the outcome of Valkyries and Saints last games. If Valkyries win, they lock in the spot. For Saints, they rely on Valkyries losing, and even then their chances are slim, as Valkyries should come out ahead in the map head to head.
South America is quite similar, with the Group B teams of MIBR and B4 Esports locked in. What isn't confirmed is which team will be finishing top seed, which is super important as both will want to avoid FURIA in the playoffs. To make it even more exciting, both teams will be playing each other - so the outcome of that game will determine who ends first in the group! The same story transpires between w7m esports and Black Dragons, who battle out for the second spot in Group A alongside FURIA. Whoever wins in that match-up will lock in the spot!
Everything will be taking place this Thursday, and you will not want to miss out!
