Playoff qualifiers - VCT EMEA 2022 Week 5 recap

At the end of the fifth week of competition, the six finalist teams are now known. Guild Esport, Team Liquid, M3 Champions, Fnatic, FunPlus Phoenix and Acend have all made it to the playoffs of this Challengers 2 EMEA. While some of the teams flew through the group stage to qualify, others gave it their all until the last game.

If you want a quick overview of the final scores, you can refer to the summary of week 5.

Qualified rosters

Previously in these Challengers

Last week marked the beginning of the playoff race. After already 4 weeks of tough competition, all teams wanted to reach the final stages. Fnatic and Guild Esports remained undefeated until then. But this new week of competition has changed the game!

Here is a recap of week 5 of the VCT EMEA 2022.

Group A matches

The final week of the group stage began with the meeting between Acend and FPX. The previous week, both teams finished with 3 wins and 1 loss each, so this new match determined who would be 2/3rd in Group A. On Bind, Acend took control of the game and quickly took the first point with a score of 13-6. Suygetsu and his Viper put a stop to the Acend players on BreezeHe finished with an impressive KDA of 35/10/5. FPX wins the second point 13 to 9. It all came down to Split. Both teams were eager to win and fought hard. After 23 intense rounds, it was Acend who finally came out on top, 13-10, and won the match 2-1.

The second match in Group A was between FOKUS and OG LDN UTD. This new confrontation was the opportunity for the FOKUS players to get at least one victory in this Challengers 2 EMEA. They did it, as they won 2 cards to 1. If they first lost 7-13 on Breeze, however, they did not give up. Far from it. The FOKUS gave OG a hard time on Ascent, as the match ended in 13-11. The last card was even closer. It took a total of 32 rounds to decide between the 2 rosters. Unfortunately for OG, FOKUS proved to be more solid and won Fracture 17-15.

The clash between G2 Esports and Fnatic meant the end of the group phase. Undefeated since the beginning of the Challengers 2, the Fnatic players won again. On Icebox, Alfajer and Enzo carry their team, and finish with a KDA of 23/11/4 and 22/5/8 respectively. Fnatic wins 13-9. Hoody and his teammates take over Split, 10 to 13, after six rounds of victories, they were trailing 10-7. It all came down to Bind. Both teams showed some good action, but it was Fnatic who was the more effective. G2 Esports loses 11-13.

Group B matches

The first match in Group B was a crucial one for M3 Champions. Given their ranking last week, the Russian team had to win this match to ensure a playoff spot. Unfortunately for them, Team Liquid had no intention of doing them any favours. In an efficient match, Jampi and his team won successively Icebox, 13-8, then Fracture, 13-7.

This second match in Group B was also of vital importance for Natus Vincere. A loss meant certain elimination from the tournament, while a win could see them advance to the playoffs depending on the results of other teams. Although they did not qualify in the end, the NaVi players did not lose out as they won their match against Guild Esports. In doing so, they ended Guild's winning streak. Trailing 5-7 on Icebox, NaVi turned the tables at the changeover. With 8 successive winning rounds in Defence, they win Icebox 13-7. They could have ended the game 2-0 on Breeze, but Guild Esports' determination was not enough. They too were able to come back from 8-11 down. In the end, NaVi lost 11-13. The final card of this meeting, Haven, in the end, it was another NaVi comeback. Despite their lead, 11-7, Guild Esport faced a stronger opponent in the end. After losing 6 rounds in a row, Guild lost. The match ends with Natus Vincere winning 13 to 11.

We talked about the qualification of M3 Champions above. With their loss to Team Liquid, it was completely dependent on the result of the match between BIG and BBL Esports. This meeting started on Ascent, map won 13-6 by BBL Esports. Despite a close score at the changeover, BIG could do nothing against the BBL fervour: they won all their Attack rounds in succession. On Haven, BBL had more difficulty in beating BIG, but after 23 rounds, and a final score of 13-10They won their second point. In the end, BIG's defeat was indeed in M3C's favour, as they qualified for the playoffs.

The ranking at the end of this fourth week

Having topped their respective groups, Fnatic and Guild Esports will be entering the semi-finals of the top bracket directly. The 4 remaining teams will have to go through a first match: Acend will face M3 Champions, while Team Liquid will face FunPlus Phoenix.

As a reminder, the top 3 teams in these playoffs will advance to the second Masters this year, namely the Copenhagen Masters, which will take place from 10th to 24th July.

To follow the rest of the VCT EMEA 2022, see you on 17th June.

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