As Season 8 of Challenger League nears its end, many teams have already guaranteed themselves a spot in the upcoming playoffs. This means the stakes are higher than ever as teams jostle for the remaining top four positions to keep their promotion hopes alive, as well as guaranteeing themselves a spot in Season 9 of Challenger League.
Europe (EU)
Three of the playoff contenders came head-to-head this week as 3DMAX found victories over both TrainHard and Overtime thanks to an incredible 18-6 kill/death spread by Quaal while TrainHard managed to salvage a single point off of ENCE in a very closely contested game on Consulate.
The full results now mean that, despite finding their first victory of the season this week, the struggling team of DeathroW joins T3H eSports as the first two teams in Europe to lose their chance to qualify for the playoffs with just seven points. In contrast to this, the two top teams of Team Empire and ENCE eSports have already secured themselves a spot in the playoffs meaning four teams - TrainHard eSports, 3DMAX, EnD Gaming and Overtime eSports - are now left to fight for the final two positions in the playoffs next week.
EnD Gaming vs T3H Esports (6-3)
Team Empire vs DeathroW (6-3)
ENCE eSports vs Overtime eSports (6-0)
3DMAX vs TrainHard eSport (6-3)
Team Empire vs EnD Gaming (6-1)
DeathroW vs T3H Esport (6-3)
3DMAX vs Overtime eSports (6-0)
ENCE eSports vs TrainHard eSport (5-5)
North America (NA)
Miner Esports was the only team to gain more than three points this week as they defeated two playoff contenders in Team SiNister and Vicious Gaming to keep their own slim playoff chances alive. Losses by every other team in the league this week now means that there are six teams in the running for the final three positions with just Elephant Gang guaranteeing their place so far in North America.
Despite still being in the race, gaining just one point against eighth-placed Goober Squad severely hurts Team SiNister’s hopes of making it back to Pro League as they have now slipped down to the sixth position. Meanwhile, Disrupt Gaming gave up their chance to book a playoff spot early after losing four rounds in a row on the attack against Elephant Gang after taking the initial lead.
Vicious Gaming vs Goober Squad (6-3)
Miner Esports vs Team SiNister (6-4)
Elephant Gang vs Disrupt Gaming (6-3)
The Nomads vs Excellerate Gaming (6-3)
Miner Esports vs Vicious Gaming (6-4)
Team SiNister vs Goober Squad (5-5)
Excelerate Gaming vs Elephant Gang (6-4)
Disrupt Gaming vs The Nomads (6-2)
Latin America (LATAM)
Due to last weeks games being delayed to the following Tuesday, two playdays were played this week in the Latin American region. Despite gaining just four points across their four games Guidance Gaming joins ReD DevilS e-Sports in the playoffs while just one victory by WP Gaming means they have lost their chance for a playoff spot.
Despite previously being at the bottom of the table, three victories this week means that Urban Assualt has risen from seventh place up to fourth, while four points for 2Kill Gaming puts them in third place, however, with three teams within just three points of them this is a much less secure position than it seems.
Cartel E-sports vs 2Kill Gaming (6-2, 5-5)
Guidance Gaming vs Santos e-Sports (5-5, 6-4)
ReD DevilS e-Sports vs YeaH Gaming (6-2, 4-6)
WP Gaming vs Urban Assualt (6-3, 4-6)
Urban Assualt vs Guidance Gaming (6-4, 6-1)
Santos e-Sports vs WP Gaming (5-5, 5-5)
YeaH Gaming vs 2Kill Gaming (6-1, 3-6)
Cartel E-sports vs ReD DevilS e-Sports (5-5, 5-5)
For some players, next week will be the most important games of their career, as their chances of making Season 9 of Pro League will be on the line. In Europe, 3DMAX plays against DeathroW and T3H Esports, the seventh and eighth placed teams in the league, which should get them enough points to qualify for playoffs, meaning the game of TrainHard eSport vs EnD Gaming will be must win by both teams.
With six out of eight teams in contention for playoffs in North America, every game will have a huge impact on the final standings, perhaps none more than fifth-placed Vicious Gaming’s (previously known as FLAWLESS GG) games against second placed Disrupt Gaming and third placed The Nomads. While they are technically underdogs in both games, Vicious’ recent victory against mousesports in the US Nationals qualifier shows they have the ability to cause some major upsets.
Finally, Latin America’s playoff teams will largely be decided upon as the fifth and sixth placed teams meet in the Cartel E-sports vs YeaH Gaming matchup while 2Kill Gaming will be hoping they can gain points off of the incredibly dominant ReD DevilS e-Sports in order to keep their third place position.
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