The pen-ultimate week wrapped, we're now within touching distance of confirming all the teams who will qualify for the ESL Impact Season 4 LAN finals at Valencia!
ICYMI
- NAVI Javelins secured a spot at LAN after their victory over 9 Pandas Fearless, locking in the top of their group
- FlyQuest RED have also confirmed one of the two NA spots, as only one team (Shimmer) can end the season above them
- Shimmer have a tough close to the end of the season, as lisa has stepped down from the roster, with Australian import Phoebe joining the squad!
Weekly Recap
Here's what you missed!
Top Plays of the Week
NIP's clutch queen Astra delivered in their match versus ENCE Athena, just take a look at that pistol 3k!
Bungee and Dani doubled up with two highlights each on day 2!
Players to Watch
The late stage resurgence of 1WIN Gang has been quite the storyline, as they've managed to find themselves within touching distance of qualifying for Valencia. Their success this week over VP Angels was led by a double effort of Deylary and Potya, who posted 1.54 and 1.64 ratings respectively and proving their prowess in CS2.
Team Karma delivered Shimmer their first loss of the season, which will have serious implications going into the final week of play. It was Bungee who topped the server for Karma, a new addition to the ESL Impact scene, but a player who has previously played for teams such as TSM within VALORANT. Her aggressive rifling saw her post a 1.39 rating with 8 opening kills and a 64% headshot percentage!
The team closest to disrupting the FURIA / Fluxo monopoly at the top of the table are ex-DIVINA (sadly the organisation has pulled out of esports). The squad continue to impress, but were almost undone by Ravens, with lulitenz putting them through their paces! The Argentinian went 52-39 across the three map affair, notably delivering a 2.02 rating in their lights out Ancient win.
The Path to Valencia
This is what you're really here for - who has and who can qualify for the ESL Impact Season 4 LAN finals at Valencia!
There are 8 spots in total, with 3 currently confirmed - HSG (Asia Wildcard), NAVI Javelins (Europe), FlyQuest RED (North America). The remaining spots will see two more teams from the European division, two from South America, and one more from North America.
Here's how each team makes it. In Europe the 2nd team in each group proceeds to a playoff Bo3, with the winner being the third qualified team for LAN.
Europe Group A
- Nigma Galaxy directly qualify with a win over 1WIN Gang. If they lose, they will be second in their group and play the playoff game versus the second team in Group B
- 1WIN Gang directly qualify with a win over Nigma Galaxy AND NIP lose versus BIG EQUIPA. Otherwise a win secures the playoff game. They can proceed to playoffs on a loss depending on other results
- NIP proceed to playoffs with a win over BIG EQUIPA (due to already having beaten 1WIN Gang). They can proceed to playoffs on a loss depending on other results
- BIG EQUIPA proceed to playoffs with a win over NIP AND 1WIN Gang lose versus Nigma Galaxy, but a 2-1 win will only put them through if they come out ahead on round difference (they likely would with the current round difference, unless they are blown out on a map loss)
- ENCE Athena and VP Angels cannot qualify
Europe Group B
- NAVI Javelins have secured the direct qualification to Valencia
- G2 Oya proceed to playoffs with a win versus Guild AND GamerLegion Prism beat 9 Pandas Fearless
- 9 Pandas Fearless proceed to playoffs with a win versus GamerLegion Prism
- GamerLegion Prism proceed to playoffs with a win versus 9 Pandas Fearless AND G2 Oya lose to Guild
- Shinigami and Guild cannot qualify
Much like Season 3, Group A has a tight contest at the tail end with everything up for grabs between the remaining four teams. Group B is also open, but 9 Pandas Fearless are most favoured.
North America
The reason that FlyQuest RED have already qualified is that the only team that can end ahead of them in the standings are Shimmer, as FQ have beaten the other 3 teams still contending for a spot.
Each team still has two remaining games to play, which means there are a lot more scenarios to finish in the top 2. The crucial games will be:
- EG Gold versus Shimmer, the winner of which will come out ahead in any tiebreaker between the two if their standings are equal - which is the most likely scenario unless upsets occur in prior games
- Tsunami Sirens versus Team Karma, a win here for Team Karma would mean they come out ahead versus both Tsunami Sirens AND Shimmer who they beat last week
The second spot is very much in the air, with Tsunami Sirens, EG Gold, and Team Karma all sitting 3-2. Shimmer sit at 4-1, but have yet to play both FQ Red and EG Gold, the two other favourites in the group.
It's almost too close to call who is most favoured to proceed, but the most likely scenario will see two teams tied up at 5-2. Given Shimmer's roster change, my prediction would be EG Gold and either Team Karma or Tsunami Sirens - depending on the result of their head to head. This is where EG Gold's loss to Tsunami Sirens in Week 4 could come back to bite them - but let's not get ahead of ourselves yet!
South America
Much like NA, South America is still relatively open going into the final week, with four teams still in contention for the LAN spots, FURIA, Fluxo Demons, ex-DIVINA, and MIBR.
The key games will be:
- Fluxo Demons versus MIBR. Fluxo have already beaten ex-DIVINA, and lost to FURIA. So a win over MIBR would confirm a top 2 spot if there's a tiebreaker, provided other results go as expected
- ex-DIVINA versus FURIA. FURIA have already beaten the other two teams in contention, so a win here would lock their spot in and potentially even finish a flawless season for the revamped squad
The fate of the teams in SA is purely in their own hands. FURIA are almost guaranteed one of the two spots, but an upset is certainly possible. Fluxo Demons are favoured for the second spot, but MIBR have the power to steal it away in the final Bo3!
