Astralis secure Major spot with victory over Complexity in IEM Fall's Group B

SINNERS squandered a chance to join Astralis in the playoffs losing a tight match to Movistar Riders.

Astralis have punched their ticket to the Major with a victory over Complexity, while SINNERS, who were also 3-0 going into the fourth day of play, missed a chance at securing a berth in the playoffs and may have to fight with two more teams in the group for the coveted second place if they can't beat Astralis in the final day of play.

The other two teams still in it to try and make the playoffs are Movistar Riders and Heroic if they beat Endpoint and Complexity, respectively, which would make a three-way tie possible. For Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer and company, they will need a win to try and secure a spot in the 9-12th place bracket and hope to qualify for the Major from there, while Endpoint's fate has already been sealed as they remain without a win at the bottom of the table.

Astralis and Complexity clashed on Nuke in the A stream highlighted match of the day in Group B, with the two teams off to a very close start as the Danes took an 8-7 lead on the attacking side. The map remained a tight affair all the way to the bitter end as it ended up with Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and company winning in the very last round.

The Danes’ victory puts them as one of the top two teams in the group, meaning they have earned a berth in the playoffs ahead of the final day of group play, but more importantly it means that they have gained enough points in the RMR ranking, where they already have 1024 points, to secure a spot at the PGL Major no matter what the outcome of their coming games is, although they will still be fighting to try and attain one of the three Legends spots available.

Astralis will even have the chance to bring in-game leader Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander back before the Major if they so wish, since 20% of 8th place points added to their current total is still more than what Heroic currently have, which means they'd still be locking in a spot in Stockholm.

SINNERS had the chance to join Astralis as an IEM Fall playoffs team, but they weren’t able to best Movistar Riders, who have now taken their second scalp in Group B after beating Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný and company.

SINNERS started strong on the terrorist side of Vertigo, and although Alejandro "⁠mopoz⁠" Fernández-Quejo Cano and company found their footing midway through the first half, the Czech team ended up with a three round lead at the switch. The Spaniards then pushed to even things up on the attack, and were able to turn things around late in the game to clinch the map in the last round of regulation.

After their first three wins in the group stage, SINNERS slipped in pursuit of a clean group stage finish, but they are still prime contenders to make the playoffs as they currently sit in second place in the group with a victory more than the following two teams fighting for the coveted playoff berth.

Heroic have made sure to remain in contention for a third-place finish in the group stage by defeating Endpoint as they overcame early adversity on the CT side of Ancient and stabilized early to put on what at first appeared like a dominating performance in the newest map of the pool, but the last-placed Endpoint retaliated and made a strong comeback attempt when up against match point, although they eventually fell short as the Danes closed it out 16-12.

The team led by Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller can still fight that crucial second-place finish in the group stage to make it to the playoffs, where their good standing would get them to the Major, but even if they were to fail, a third-place finish could still get them in the 9-12th place decider bracket for a shot at qualifying.

The Group B standings are now: