After three days of competition, eight teams came through the VCT EU: Challengers 1 qualifier to lock in a presence at the first event in Stage 3 of the prestigious 2021 Riot competitive circuit.
The four teams that come out on top in this Challengers will secure passage to the final EMEA Challengers Playoffs, where they will have to fight for the four European slots in Masters: Berlin.
Half of the teams qualified through the Upper-Bracket seed, with others having survived the Lower-Bracket and making their way to this later stage of the VCT, albeit at a preliminar disadvantage heading into this next event.
Upper-Bracket Seeds for EU: Challengers 1
- Acend
- G2 Esports
- Guild Esports
- Team Liquid
Acend were the first to guarantee a passage to Challengers 1. Albeit the recent addition of Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt, the European roster dominated Team BDS, with two back-to-back 13-5 victories.
G2 Esports were up next, sending off Fnatic to the lower-bracket. After a 13-9 loss on Bind, the Masters: Reykjavík finalists struggled to close out Haven.
With all the pressure on the black and orange, G2’s rookie Cista “keloqz” Wassim would make a case for himself, powering G2 to reach overtime, where they managed to complete the 2-0.
Having removed and later one re-added William “Draken” Sundin to the roster, Guild Esports managed to take down FunPlus Phoenix, with the 2-1 series decided by a 13-11 scoreline on Split.
After a strong 13-6 start, Alliance would lose its grip on the series against Team Liquid. A 13-5 on Breeze and a 13-9 on Haven awarded Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom’s side, the last upper-bracket seed.
Lower-Bracket Seeds for EU: Challengers 1
- Fnatic
- Rix.GG Thunder
- FunPlus Phoenix
- Team BDS
After failing to qualify in the first try, Fnatic secured their Challengers spot despite a much valiant effort from Wave Esports. A 2-1 series decided with a 13-8 victory in Bind.
The upset of the day was Rix.GG, that started their series against Alliance with a tight 14-12 win on Breeze. After losing Bind 13-7, they pulled back 13-4 on Haven and denied Enzo “Fearoth” Mestari’s men the chance to continue on their Challengers 1 journey.
Coming recently of a win over Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Finest were looking up to cause an impact against Team BDS. However, a crushing 13-5 victory on Bind and a 13-11 Icebox were enough for BDS to brush them aside.
Finally, FunPlus Phoenix booked the last spot, with an equally dominating 2-0 over Team Vitality.
