Movistar Riders and Outsiders qualify for ESL Challenger playoffs

Movistar Riders and Outsiders have secured their spots in the knockout stage of ESL Challenger Valencia 2022 after going through the opening best-of-ones without suffering a loss. The playoffs will take place on Sunday, and will see the two semifinals as well as the grand final take place on the same day.

Meanwhile, MIBR and Sprout have dropped to the lower bracket of their respective groups and will have to come out on top from the best-of-three decider matches on Saturday to advance to the next stage of the Spanish LAN.

The home squad of Movistar Riders got off to a fantastic start, destroying HUMMER 16-0 in their opening match of the event. The Spaniards swept the Brazilians on the CT side of Nuke and quickly put an end to the game by taking the pistol after switching sides. Alejandro “⁠alex⁠” Masanet definitely led by example, ending the game with a 27-6 K-D, an ADR of 188.4, and a 2.88 rating.

The opening victory on home soil sent the Spanish team straight to the winners’ match where they faced MIBR. Similar to their compatriots before them, Marcelo “⁠chelo⁠” Cespedes‘s squad brought the match to Nuke, and the result was not much different as Movistar Riders cruised through another dominant CT half on their way to a 16-3 victory. The Brazilians will get another chance to advance, facing the winner of Rare Atom vs HUMMER on Saturday at 14:30 .

Coming in as the second-highest ranked team at the event, Outsiders were expected to go on a deep run, and they started well. The Russian core handed another defeat to a Brazilian team, taking down 00NATION and spoiling the debut match of the new squad despite Eduardo “⁠dumau⁠” Wolkmer‘s great performance. The match on Inferno finished 16-11 in favor of Dzhami “⁠Jame⁠” Ali‘s team as they secured a spot in the winners’ match.

Sprout came into the last BO1 of group play with some excitement behind them following their upset over FURIA earlier in the day. The European squad played a solid game on Inferno (16-10) against the highest-ranked team at the tournament, sending them to the lower bracket of Group A. However, Outsiders proved to be one step too far for Rasmus “⁠raalz⁠” Steensborg‘s men. The European squad failed to make any headway on the T side of Vertigo before slowly fading away on the defensive half to concede the map 16-8 and drop to the decider match.