ESL Challenger Roterdam isn’t one of those tournaments that get talked about during the whole season, but this year things might be a little different. Lots of ups and downs, upsets and surprises showed us that we should never judge an event based on its size.
Take a look how much craziness happened despite we didn’t have any matches in the playoffs yet.
The Quick Recap
After failing to qualify for the IEM Rio Major, the Eternal Fire team made the contentious decision to fire Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli. Instead, they brought back Yasin “xfl0ud” Koç from the bench and appointed Ismail “imoRR” Karataş as their new in-game captain.
After losing to Movistar Riders in the first round of Group A, the team in Rotterdam, where they were playing for the first time with their new squad, quickly came under pressure. The Turkish team was facing elimination going into day two and needed to win two straight series to get to the quarterfinals.
Nixuh was a significant underdog, therefore Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş and company had to work hard to win the first Inferno map in overtime before crushing the South African team in a rematch against Movistar Riders in the championship match.
Just a few hours later, Eternal Fire faced the Spaniards, and the new captain, imoRR, led the way to a convincing closure against Inferno to secure their place in the playoffs. The returnee xfl0ud shone as Eternal Fire recovered from a sluggish start to Vertigo.
Outsiders, meanwhile, beat Fluxo in a rematch from Group B’s first round to secure second place. Then did so by outlasting the Brazilian team led by Joo “felps” Vasconcelos in a game that required overtime on Dust2, and they easily won the series on Inferno.
The Conclusion
The last day of the ESL Challenger Rotterdam is approaching. A prelude to the IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage will take place between MOUZ and Outsiders in the semi-finals, while on the opposite side of the bracket, Eternal Fire will compete against ENCE, their hardest foe yet.
Make sure not to miss the remaining matchups of this event, since what we have seen so far, they’re going to be lit! In case you want to add some excitement to the party, make sure to learn all the details by checking out our guide on CSGO betting right here.
