After four weeks which was enough to decide most of the qualified teams, the group stage of the EMEA Challengers Stage 2 comes to an end this week. There is only one spot left in the playoffs, and it will be determined by the Group B matches. Group A has already finished and the last matches will be played to determine which team will play against a weaker opposition in the first round.
Fnatic finished first in Group A, while Guild Esports secured the top spot in Group B. FunPlus Phoenix and Acend will follow Fnatic, while Team Liquid will follow Guild Esports in the other group. The last place will go to either M3 Champions or BIG, depending on who wins their match this week.
EMEA Challengers Week 4 Summary
The fourth week started with Acend against G2 Esports, an important match for both teams as it decided which team would qualify for the playoffs. G2 started with a good morale boost, defeating Acend 13-3 on Split. Acend's response was a better game on G2's pick, Icebox. The Lithuanian vakk led his team to a 13-10 win.
Bind decided the fate of the series and G2 Esports started with an edge after ending the first half 7-5. Acend's Polish duo took the responsibility of bringing home the win by stopping hoody and nukkye. It was an incredibly close game, as G2 won the penultimate round 12-11, but Acend came back to make the score 13-11 and register a victory.
Thus, G2 Esports has been eliminated from the EMEA Challengers Stage 2, while Acend has entered the playoffs.
Team Liquid faced Natus Vincere in the following match. Although TL won a very close game on Haven, NAVI once again took a game from their opponents and took it to the decider for the fourth time this season. ScreaM and Nivera brothers won the incredibly long Split 16-14 for their team, securing the playoffs for Team Liquid.
BIG defeated M3 Champions on day two with an unexpected performance. Twisten's Jett gave the team a 13-9 Ascent victory and a Raze performance from him secured the 2-0 on Bind. Following that, FunPlus Phoenix took down OG LDN UTD with ease: 13-6 on Haven and 13-3 on Bind.
Guild Esports played QutionerX's BBL Esports the next day and met unexpected resistance from the Turkish team. The first game was an incredibly close Bind, which Guild won 14-12 in overtime. BBL tried again to survive on Ascent, but again a nail-biter 13-10 win secured Guild a 2-0 victory and first place in Group B.
Next up, Fnatic defeated FOKUS to also secure first place in Group A. 13-7 on Split and 13-4 on Bind show how big the difference was between the two teams. Just like Guild Esports, Fnatic will start in a higher round of the playoffs after winning the first place.
EMEA Challengers Stage 2 schedule and betting odds
Check out the schedule for the final week of the group stage below:
June 10, Friday
Acend (2.30) vs FunPlus Phoenix (1.55) - 16:00 CEST
M3 Champions (1.68) vs Team Liquid (2.05) - 19:00 CEST
June 11, Saturday
Natus Vincere vs Guild Esports - 16:00 CEST
FOKUS vs OG LDN UTD - 19:00 CEST
June 12, Sunday
BIG vs BBL Esports - 16:00 CEST
Fnatic vs G2 Esports - 19:00 CEST
With the standings mostly decided, there's not much to look forward to in week five. However, if TL beats M3 Champions, BIG 's match against BBL Esports on Sunday will be very valuable as they have a chance to qualify for the playoffs. Also, the week will end with the derby between Fnatic and G2, and although G2 disappointed in Stage 2, they might surprise one last time to mess with FNC.
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