EWC Open Qualifier Playoff: Viewer's Guide

The lowkey incredible group stage of this qualifier has now wrapped up, with an insane amount of CS in two short days.

Now, prepare for even more action. Because today, August 9th, all matches will begin at 11:00 AM CEST. Yes, every single one of them, and they will keep playing until the brackets are over.

The teams are divided into groups of eight, each with its own mini bracket to qualify for a spot at EWC.

So to help you navigate the chaos and figure out what matches to watch, here are the top games of the day and what matchups to watch out for in the later stages:

Bc.Game - OG

If you’re not multistreaming, this is the game to watch.

We’ve been very happy with what we’ve seen from BC.Game so far. Sure, they dropped a map to BASEMENT BOYS, but their clean 2:0 over 1win makes up for it. Especially because we’ve now seen a clear pattern that Senzu, mzinho, and s1mple are an actual superstar core. If electroNic and Magisk do their roles, BC.Game are everything we’ve wanted them to be.

On the OG side, it’s a lot less positive.

Tier 2 is not being kind to them as they haven’t made a deep run once this year yet. This is a huge opportunity for them to revive their VRS points and qualify. For as good as BC.Game have looked, electroNic is still a doubt, and OG do have a level they can reach, as we saw when they took a map off Spirit… admittedly online. But we’re huge fans of adamb and think he’s a great talent, for whatever that’s worth.

Something else worth knowing: the winner of this game will likely play 100 Thieves, who are playing INFINITE in the mirror fixture. That match will start at ~14:00 CEST per scheduling, so if you’re watching all day, that should be forefront on your radar.

1win vs Team Liquid

A fresh team vs a refreshed team.

We tipped Liquid as one of the teams to watch for this season, and so far it’s been encouraging. Beating G2 and Vitality, while online, is no mean feat, and their Stake Pulse adventure might not have yielded a trophy, but they were very good against 9INE and fnatic in the run-up to the final. If they can keep their form up here, they’re in good shape to get into EWC.

Well, that is unless 1win have something to say about it.

1win, formerly known as TDK, are basically the Avengers of Russian “what-if” players. They’ve got Ax1Le, nafany, BELCHONOKK, fame, and ArtFr0st, who were all (to varying degrees) considered stars or stars-to-be, with the exception of maybe BELCHONOKK. Because of that, the potential ceiling is crazy, as Ax1Le’s mechanics are still there, fame is still good, and with groove as the coach there’s still some chance they can channel Gambit-era Nafany. But realistically they’re going to need another pandemic to maximize this roster.

For that reason, Liquid should win this, facing [Acend] in the game after. If they manage to win that, they’ll face whoever comes out of BC.Game/OG and INFINITE/100 Thieves.

This is easily the most stacked end of the bracket.

SINNERS - EYEBALLERS

This match is tier 2 heritage.

Let us explain: Most of these games involve teams that are unfortunately not that relevant. Or, if they are, they’re in a very one-sided matchup, like BIG vs Eternal Fire. Meanwhile, this game has the makings of a CCT lower bracket final game, a proper match.

Just don't get emotionally invested in the winner.

The next team they’ll likely face is K27, which isn’t a light task. They’re technically ranked higher than both of these teams, and frankly we do rate them. But they’re beatable, as they got 3:0’d by Heroic a month back, and they were defeated by Just Players, a mix team on the outskirts of the top 100, at CCT. Even if they win, though, the other side of the bracket will probably bring Heroic once again.

As for the actual match at hand, EYEBALLERS probably got it.

The addition of KRIMZ has made the Swedes a much more dangerous side because of their now increased ceiling. They probably need another Swedish shuffle to make them a top 20 team, but at the moment they have a fragger in maxster that a team like SINNERS can’t match. Though it’s concerning that three of EYEBALLERS’ players have largely been negative in the last three months.

So, like we said, don't get attached.