The final remaining ESL One: Road to Rio regions – Europe and CIS, are entering the deciding stages of play. Playoff time has come all around and it’s time to see who made the cut.
Team Heretics keep on climbing
Both Europe groups included a Cinderella story in the face of Heretics and GODSENT. These teams advanced to the playoffs ahead of the ESL Pro League Season 11 finalists Fnatic and mousesports, respectively. While GODSENT fell at the first playoff hurdle – vs. Vitality, Heretics keep on preaching. Group B’s third-placed North could not cope with the in-form squad and we will be seeing Heretics again tomorrow evening in the lower bracket semi-finals.
1/5 !Ganamos 2-0 a @TheNorthIsHere y #HeretiCSGO pasa la primera prueba de playoffs en Road to Rio!GGs @kiocsgoo @Makazin_ @LuckyCSGO_ @xms51 & @Nivera__ #VamosHeretics pic.twitter.com/PhoVGVwJre
— #HereticsUpdate (@HereticsUpdate) May 12, 2020
Their opponent will be decided in the Astralis – G2 clash, with the loser set to face the French roster. Vitality’s lower bracket companion will be either FaZe Clan or Ninjas in Pyjamas. FaZe are the only ones yet to drop a game in the tournament, so as it is, a French-Swedish clash looks more likely.
Natus Vincere let themselves down
As we mentioned, there weren’t upset shortages in Europe, but none came close to the blow CIS heavyweight Natus Vincere took. The Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev-led team announced high ambitions for 2020 and a group exit at ESL One: Road to Rio certainly wasn’t part of the schedule. Hard Legion, Syman Gaming, and Virtus.pro all managed one more victory than Na’Vi’s two, thus confirming the local giants’ heavy fall.
Team Spirit, from the other group, is the story so far, matching FaZe’s record of victories only. Their perfect record won’t be challenged until Friday. Virtus.pro and Nemiga Gaming will play for that opportunity today. In the other quarterfinal, Syman are in a face-off with Winstrike Team to produce an opponent for Gamer Legion.
ESL One: Road to Rio will conclude on Sunday in both Europe and the CIS. North America, Asia, Oceania, and South America already have their regional champions, so you might want to catch up on that while we wait for the last two coronations.
