The closed qualifier stage of ESL One Rio in the CIS region came to its conclusion, with eight teams advancing to the Minor. Let’s have a peek at what happened and who made it through!
HellRaisers bomb out of ESL One Rio closed qualifier
The biggest name to fall in the closed qualifier is without a doubt HellRaisers. Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow’s squad lost 0-2 to ESPADA in the deciding game after Winstrike had sent them in the loser bracket beforehand.
Speaking of Winstrike, they secured their spot with a follow-up win vs. forZe. The latter still made it to the Minor via the loser bracket, a 2-0 against pro100 sealing the deal.
There were just a couple of three-map series in the deciding rounds. In the upper bracket Syman beat Hard Legion in a nail-biting 30-round Inferno clash. Similar to forZe, the losers qualified through the lower bracket, refusing Nemiga Gaming in the process.
The other three-map thriller included Sergey “starix” Ischuk and his team 1WIN. Their match versus Team Unique was not for the fainthearted with all three maps reaching 29+ rounds in length. The former Natus Vincere player ended up on the receiving end despite holding a 12-4 lead for his side on the third map.
The final two fixtures in the winners’ bracket included victories for Team Spirit and Gambit Youngsters.
The full team list for the ESL One Rio CIS Minor looks like this:
- Winstrike Team
- Team Spirit
- Syman Gaming
- Gambit Youngsters
- forZe
- Team Unique
- ESPADA
- Hard Legion Esports
The ESL One Rio CIS Minor Championship is scheduled for April 26 - May 2. The top two sides will move on to the New Challengers stage of the Major. The team to finish third will proceed to the Minors’ 3rd Place Play-In.
