Win Scrims Not Matches, eUnited advance to IEM Sydney closed qualifier

Win Scrims Not Matches and eUnited booked their place in the IEM Sydney North America closed qualifier after placing in the top two of the first open qualifier.

The first open qualifier for IEM Syndey in North America saw several notable teams drop out of the tournament, with the likes of INTZ, Spacestation, and South Africans Denial fall early in the best-of-one stages.

TeamOne topped Denial 16-12 and then defeated their compatriots INTZ in an overtime thriller to reach the decider, while Win Scrims Not Matches smacked Spacestation to enter the best-of-three skirmish.

The series began with a highly contested battle on Dust2, as Win Scrims Not Matches got their wits together late in the second half to take the edge over TeamOne 16-14. With the series landing on Train, things quickly soured for the North American side, as Bruno "⁠BIT⁠" Fukuda Lima and his men remained in the driver's seat to force the decider. The series came down to Mirage, where another close game ensued, but, in the end, Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery shone with a 1.44 rating in the 16-14 map victory. promoting his squad to the closed qualifier.

On the other side of the bracket, Singularity eliminated Swole Patrol 16-4 to reach the decider, while eUnited earned their place in the best-of-three after easing past Hysteria and Cyclone.

In the decider, Singularity dominated early on Inferno, but Austin "⁠Cooper⁠" Abadir & co. came back from a 0-6 deficit to seal a 16-14 victory on the opening map.

Gage "⁠Infinite⁠" Green and his men then crushed their opponents 16-1 on Overpass, but, in the end, the squad came up short in the decider, as Michael "⁠dapr⁠" Gulino led the way with a 1.72 rating on Mirage to help send eUnited to the closed qualifier.

With the first open qualifier in the books, two more teams will join the four invitees in the second leg of open qualifiers, which is set to take place this weekend, from February 2-3.

The team list of the closed qualifier currently looks as follows:

Registration for the second open qualifier is still available on ESEA's website, with signups closing just one hour before the start of the tournament.