Qualifier Recap
Qualifier Recap
Pack your bags, get ready to learn Chinese buddy
Pack your bags, get ready to learn Chinese buddy
23 maps in 5 days, a lower bracket closed qualifier run into another open qualifier, 10 VRS ranked matches 8 wins, 2 losses and one qualification to IEM Beijing later. This is your round up of HEROIC’s busy last week!
23 maps in 5 days, a lower bracket closed qualifier run into another open qualifier, 10 VRS ranked matches 8 wins, 2 losses and one qualification to IEM Beijing later. This is your round up of HEROIC’s busy last week!
Whilst the tier 1 scene was occupied at BLAST Porto, we were grinding through qualifiers for a chance to make the third IEM event of the year, after Krakow & Cologne. Not only was there a spot at a big event on the line but significant VRS points that could help our climb towards a Singapore Major spot.
We kicked off the qualifier with a comeback win over 3DMAX, followed by a matchup against Eternal Fire. Despite mauling them on their map pick of Ancient, we were unable to close it, resulting in a disappointing loss that sent us to the lower bracket, where no more mistakes could be made. A different version of HEROIC turned up to day 2, as we only dropped one map across the next 4 series, including a rematch victory over Eternal Fire and a 19-17 double overtime win against Nuclear TigeRES, which secured our trip to China, as well as 50 VRS points to move us up to 24th in the world.
There is no rest for the wicked though as we were straight back into a dangerous open qualifier BO1 gauntlet for PGL Bucharest. The team made light work of the early opponents, and on the second day reached the ranked portion of the qualifier, starting with a 13-4 stress free win over EAC. This should have set up a tasty rematch against Fnatic, a chance for us to get revenge after our elimination from the EWC qualifier, however, the once Major winning org decided to lose to Drama, robbing us of our chance to steal back some VRS points… and pride. A swift 2-0 over Drama set up a final against 1WIN, where in an extremely close series we fell just short thanks to Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov reliving 2021, a time when he was a star player.
Whilst the tier 1 scene was occupied at BLAST Porto, we were grinding through qualifiers for a chance to make the third IEM event of the year, after Krakow & Cologne. Not only was there a spot at a big event on the line but significant VRS points that could help our climb towards a Singapore Major spot.
We kicked off the qualifier with a comeback win over 3DMAX, followed by a matchup against Eternal Fire. Despite mauling them on their map pick of Ancient, we were unable to close it, resulting in a disappointing loss that sent us to the lower bracket, where no more mistakes could be made. A different version of HEROIC turned up to day 2, as we only dropped one map across the next 4 series, including a rematch victory over Eternal Fire and a 19-17 double overtime win against Nuclear TigeRES, which secured our trip to China, as well as 50 VRS points to move us up to 24th in the world.
There is no rest for the wicked though as we were straight back into a dangerous open qualifier BO1 gauntlet for PGL Bucharest. The team made light work of the early opponents, and on the second day reached the ranked portion of the qualifier, starting with a 13-4 stress free win over EAC. This should have set up a tasty rematch against Fnatic, a chance for us to get revenge after our elimination from the EWC qualifier, however, the once Major winning org decided to lose to Drama, robbing us of our chance to steal back some VRS points… and pride. A swift 2-0 over Drama set up a final against 1WIN, where in an extremely close series we fell just short thanks to Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov reliving 2021, a time when he was a star player.
After 5 days of non-stop action, we finished with a spot at IEM Beijing, 50 VRS points and moved up to 18th in the Europe VRS ranking. With the top 16 in Europe going to Singapore, we are now very much in the fight. Oh and we have another qualifier coming up, the Thunderpick WC Closed qualifier with our first match against BESTIA tommorow, just in case you haven’t had enough online HEROIC action!
