At the Legends Stage of the PGL Major Antwerp in Belgium on Monday, FaZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas and ENCE all earned wins to lock up slots in the Champions Stage that begins Thursday.
They’ll join two winners who previously advanced Sunday, Natus Vincere and Team Spirit (each undefeated), along with three more teams who will be determined by Tuesday’s results.
During Round 4 action Monday, FaZe advanced 2-1 after dropping their first game on Infernao against Copenhagen Flames 16-13 by winning the next two, 16-13 on Ancient and 16-6 on Nuke.
Havard “rain” Nygaard of Norway led the way with 68 kills while FaZe teammate Helvijs “broky” Saukants of Latvia was an impressive plus-21 in kills-to-deaths ratio (66-45). The Flames were led by Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi of Denmark, who had a K-D ratio of 65-52 (plus-13).
Ninjas in Pyjamas had no problem sweeping past FURIA, winning 16-2 on Nuke and 16-10 on Inferno. All five players for NiP finished with a positive K-D ratio, led by Sweden’s Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora (36-19).
In the final High Match, ENCE bounced back from a 16-14 loss on Overpass to edge Heroic 16-12 on Mirage before finishing off the battle 16-6 on Nuke. ENCE’s leading performer was Pawel “dycha” Dycha of Poland, who racked up 68 kills (plus-16).
Three other teams also kept their hopes at a championship alive by winning in the Low Matches Monday.
Vitality eliminated BIG 2-1 by winning 16-9 on Mirage, losing 22-19 on Vertigo, and winning 19-17 on Nuke. G2 stayed alive by defeating Outsiders 16-10 on Inferno, dropping a game 16-10 on Vertigo and then closing it out 16-11 on Dust II. And Imperial knocked out Cloud9, winning 25-23 on Overpass, losing 16-9 on Vertigo and winning 16-3 on Mirage.
The 16-team Legends Stage, which opened Saturday, runs through Tuesday utilizing the Swiss System format to determine which eight teams will clinch spots in the May 19-22 Champions Stage. All matches are best-of-one except elimination and advancement matches, which are best-of-three.
Monday’s results set up a high-stakes set of matches Tuesday in Round 5:
–Heroic vs. Team Vitality
–G2 Esports vs. FURIA
–Copenhagen Flames vs. Imperial
–Field Level Media