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VCT Challengers EMEA: Acend and SuperMassive Heading to Berlin

SuperMassive Blaze are tearing through the bracket and are the surprise performers of the tournament. They’re now going up... Fabio | 18. August 2021

SuperMassive Blaze are tearing through the bracket and are the surprise performers of the tournament. They’re now going up against Acend in the Upper Bracket Finals, are confirmed for Masters Berlin, and can still secure a slot in the Grand Finals!

So far, the Turks have made their way past G2 Esports and FunPlus Phoenix. The latter had bombed out of the tournament days ago. SuperMassive are the last Turkish representatives at the EMEA playoffs after Oxygen and Fire Flux exited in the first Lower Bracket round. The Eastern European lineups have also taken a hit, with Natus Vincere leaving early on as well. For the time being, EU remains the strongest force at the playoffs. However, that is bound to change soon.

WHAT’S THE STATE OF EU?

This time around, the EMEA region won’t exclusively be sending EU teams to Masters. Fnatic had already missed out on the Challenger Playoffs and Liquid are struggling in the Lower Bracket as well. Acend may be qualified, but SuperMassive Blaze are taking one spot as well. Through the Lower Bracket, G2, Liquid, Guild, and Giants could theoretically still qualify. But unfortunately the tournament structure forces Guild and Giants to fight amongst themselves. The winning side from this encounter will then go on to face G2 Esports. So only one of those three teams can actually book their ticket to Berlin.

At least this guarantees that another EU team will head to Masters. The region will have to put their faith in Liquid to make it as well. They’ll have to get past forZe and Gambit first. All this CIS power might be too much to handle for Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and and his men, who had struggled versus Natus Vincere already.

So far, Baran “Izzy” Yilmaz has been the top performer with an incredible individual display. The Turkish player has put up a 308 Average Combat Score and a 1.85 KD. No one can hold a candle to him, not even ScreaM! But the Belgian headshot machine is also putting up a stellar show and ranks among the best, despite Liquid struggling this much. Acend managed to place their Turkish player, Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek, high up at the top as well. He’s delivered a 1.57 rating so far.

THE LAST TWO SLOTS

Obviously all the remaining teams are fighting to win the EMEA Challengers Playoffs. But qualifying for the Masters tournament in Berlin is still the highest priority, and so for the last few days, all sights will be set on achieving this first and foremost. Acend and SuperMassive won’t have to worry about that anymore, but Liquid, forZe, Gambit, Guild, Giants, and G2 are still in contention.

There are no clear favorites. Even though G2 and Gambit have made it the furthest, they stood no chance against the eventual Upper Bracket winners either way. So the competition remains open for everyone and we can excitedly wait to see who survives in the Lower Bracket to then book their ticket to the second ever offline competition in Berlin.