EMEA Challengers 2 Playoffs Preview: Top 4

The EMEA Challengers 2 Playoffs are halfway over, with only four teams remaining. The top seeds of Groups A and B fight for seeding, while one Masters spot is left up for grabs in the Lower Bracket Semi-Finals. These matches will not only go on to decide seeding, but points awarded for the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier. Here are the previews for the EMEA Playoffs upcoming matches.

Related: Guild Esports and Fnatic lock Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen spots]

Upper Bracket Final: Guild Esports vs Fnatic

Fnatic finished as the first seed in Group A, going undefeated 5-0 and continuing their streak on June 18. Defeating FunPlus Phoenix 2-1, they earned a spot at Masters 2 Copenhagen, now playing for seeding. Chamber player Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev stood out with a 279 ACS and a 65/46/5 K/DA in the match. Although Derke went negative 12-16 in first kills/deaths against FPX, Fnatic showed that they don’t solely revolve around their star player, and can make up the difference easily. The flexibility of Fnatic’s roster and set plays made by IGL Jake “Boaster” Howlett are what make this team scary. In their single playoffs match, Fnatic used a total of twelve different agents on the three map series. Having previous experience against Guild, all eyes will be on the compositions that Fnatic prepares for their Upper Bracket Match.

Guild Esports had also finished as first seed in their group, with a record of 4-1. Winning again against M3 Champions 2-0 booked them a spot in Masters 2 Copenhagen, their first international appearance. This match was the tale of two duelists and sentinels. Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel on Jett and Chamber, and Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko on Cypher and Raze. The flexibility of these two players to switch from site opener to site holder shows the discipline in Guild’s teamplay. The lowest Kill/Assist Percentage on the team sits at 72%, showing a constant emphasis on player trading in fights and coordination when executing strategies. For Guild to topple Fnatic, they will have to play to their team execute strengths and trade effectively against the hard hitters of Fnatic like Derke.

Lower Bracket Semi-Final: M3 Champions vs FunPlus Phoenix

M3 Champions barely made it into playoffs, being gifted the spot after BBL Esports eliminated BIG in Week 5. Defeating Acend 2-0, they fell to Guild 0-2 before eliminating Team Liquid in the Lower Quarter-Finals. Throughout the playoffs, Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov’s performance on Chamber and Raze has bailed M3C out of tough situations and rounds. He consistently averages 240+ ACS in the playoffs, always topping the leaderboards in every match. However, while Chronicle stands at the top, Nikita “d3ffo” Sudakov struggles, having averaged -10 on his Kill/Death ratio in the playoffs, the only player in double digits. If M3C want to book their spot to Copenhagen, they will have to both setup Chronicle and protect d3ffo, or miss out once again on the international event.

FunPlus Phoenix started their playoffs run with a 2-1 overtime victory over Team Liquid. Another close series against Fnatic sent FPX to the Lower Bracket 1-2, where they defeated Acend 2-1. Controller Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin has consistently held his ground on the defending side, using Cypher, Viper and Sage. Although teammate Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov can flex to the same degree with Omen, Yoru and Killjoy, he has vastly underperformed in the playoffs. His Yoru on Fracture against Fnatic proved to be his biggest shining display, but ANGE1 has struggled on the smokes and sentinel roles respectively.

In every playoffs match so far, ANGE1 has only gone negative in Kill/Death ratio, notably being the first death 19 times as Omen. Losing the smokes player early in the round can prove disastrously for a round execute, spelling doom for FPX. Attention should be drawn towards ANGE1 for support in his Yoru executes, or protection in his role as smokes.

Masters 2 and Champions Implications

The winner of Guild Esports and Fnatic on June 24 moves on to the Grand Finals. Afterwards, M3 Champions and FunPlus Phoenix battle it out for the last slot to Masters 2 Copenhagen. The loser of Guild and Fnatic will play the winner of M3C and FPX in the Lower Bracket Final. These matches will decide seeding going into the Masters 2. Additionally, claiming a spot at Masters guarantees 150 Points minimum towards Champions Qualification, while fourth place only receives 75 points.

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