fnatic, FPX top IEM Winter Open Qualifier 1

11/10/2021 - 00:03

The two high-profile teams have joined the likes of ENCE and MOUZ in the Closed Qualifier.

Squads that crashed out of the IEM Fall Regional Major Ranking tournament early and failed to qualify for the Major, fnatic and FunPlus Phoenix, bounced back on Sunday with a successful run through the IEM Winter open qualifier gauntlet.

The British-Swedish side that used Owen "⁠smooya⁠" Butterfield as a stand-in and the European mixture led by Luka "⁠emi⁠" Vuković have joined ENCE, Spirit, MOUZ, and Complexity in the closed qualifier, with the final two teams set to be decided through the second open qualifier on October 15-16.

smooya won't be playing the Closed Qualifier with fnatic

fnatic's qualification came at the expense of GamerLegion, K23, and finally, Galaxy Racer. The last match went the distance and required fnatic to come back from 11-4 down on Overpass to defeat Galaxy Racer on the decider. It is worth noting that the all-Swedish team was coached by Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström, who has been working with Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson and co. on an informal basis since his retirement as a player in September.

fnatic bench Jackinho

Despite a successful run with smooya, the British AWPer that posted a 1.35 rating across five maps played isn't expecting to compete with fnatic in the Closed Qualifier on October 18-19. fnatic could employ the services of their academy team AWPer Iulian "⁠regali⁠" Harjău or look for a different option that could fill the gap left by the benching of Jack "⁠Jackinho⁠" Ström Mattsson.

IEM Winter 2021 Europe Open Qualifier 1Best of 3

fnatic

Matchpage

10th October 2021

Galaxy Racer

Inferno

Mirage

Overpass

The path to the closed qualifier was tougher for FunPlus Phoenix, who had to beat two top-30 teams in Lyngby Vikings and Entropiq to reach the final match. Then, they managed to edge out Eternal Fire in a thriller BO3, concluding with an overtime victory on third map Nuke.

IEM Winter 2021 Europe Open Qualifier 1Best of 3

FunPlus Phoenix

Matchpage

10th October 2021

Eternal Fire

Inferno

Dust2

Nuke

Among other notable teams that were competing at the event were MIBR, who impressed in their debut with Adriano "⁠WOOD7⁠" Cerato and Matheus "⁠Tuurtle⁠" Anhaia, as well as academy player Breno "⁠brnz4n⁠" Poletto. The Brazilians beat DBL PONEY on route to the round of 16 but couldn't get any further as they were eliminated by Entropiq after overtime.

SINNERS have followed up a heartbreaking RMR run with a quarter-finals elimination by the hands of Eternal Fire, finishing in the same spot as Chinese side Lynn Vision who are bootcamping in Europe ahead of the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown.

Team list for IEM Winter 2021:

EU Qualifier

Closed qualifier teams:

Open Qualifier #2

wow

2021-10-11 00:06

1 reply

EZ4ENCE yet again

2021-10-11 01:51

ez uk cs

sad for EF

2021-10-11 00:07

Turkish superteam = always a disaster

2021-10-11 01:28

SMOOYA TO FNATIC

13 replies

if fnatic sign nawwk then, well....

12 replies

G2 is an option

2021-10-11 00:11

11 replies

i'm ngl, i'd rather have ama as an awper than nawwk

2021-10-11 00:13

10 replies

I was talking about Smooya

2021-10-11 00:15

3 replies

lol imagine niko and smooya getting into a fight mid game

2021-10-11 00:16

2 replies

Bro they would throw hands

2021-10-11 00:24

smooya destroying niko lbh

2021-10-11 02:52

Im not even fan of G2 but amanek is the most versatiled player in G2 Maybe niko too but amanek literally accepting every role without saying anything

2021-10-11 00:34

5 replies

people need to remember that G2 chose amenek over jackz when niko joined. amenek is doing do much of the dirty work in G2. he trying to fill a huge gap that kennys left in the team and that no one else in the team want to/can do.

2021-10-11 00:51

4 replies

Exactly He is one of the most needed player in every team

2021-10-11 00:58

nexa said in an interview that the team didn't actually get to pick, it was upper management who decided who did/didn't make the roster. they also mentioned hunter was really upset about jackz leaving and the team was not the same without him. although... nexa ALSO said jackz was no longer in the team because he cannot speak english, so I am not sure what to believe

2021-10-11 01:29

oh really? I didnt know that. jackz has the entry role and the team really likes him and what he is doing (based on other interviews). kicking him would also mean having an other big problem. whom to kick, right? because kicking amenek would also mean a big shift in positions and roles.

2021-10-11 17:09

yeah, the team is in a really weird place. the team is not working as you would expect, and amanek is a huge asset due to his versatility but his awping seems to be below average more often than not. whatever change they make is going to mess up the team roles etc. a weird spot to be in, but if they do not start performing more consistently something has to change.

2021-10-11 21:24

EZ4FPX

2021-10-11 00:08

2021-10-11 00:25

Me when the

smooya will not be playing for fnatic in the Closed Qualifier, RIP FNATIC twitter.com/smooyacs/status/144730607148..

14 replies

fak

2021-10-11 00:09

Yeah :( it was mentioned in the caption

2021-10-11 00:10

in the article they say they might go for regali but bruh, smooya confirmed they literally had basically 0 practice hours and they managed to come back from 11-4, if you're fnatic and you go with somebody else now, you're just playing stupid (in my opinion then)

2021-10-11 00:18

9 replies

Well if you got the permanent 5th it would make sense

2021-10-11 00:20

8 replies

out of all the options they have I only see them get nawwk (cause Swedish go brr) or regali but thats just a risk to because of 0 experience and in personal preference I just like smooya more than nawwk

2021-10-11 00:22

7 replies

With nawwwk they keep it majority Swedish which they might want

6 replies

true, also another reason smooya can't play is cause of his contract under MR

2021-10-11 00:48

When is that expiring? Feels like it isn’t the first time that is a problem

2021-10-11 00:50

I counted his bench time and actual time together and he's been on the team for 265 days, so let's say his contract is a 1 year contract hell be a free agent in 100 days (3 months and a bit so basically beginning of 2022)

That would make sense, the leaked showed he also makes a decent salary from steaming

2021-10-11 00:52

true, altho I just want him to get into a team at this point which competes high enough, because he is like this passive aggressive awper and I like his style a lot so if fnatic can get him, just do do pls

2021-10-11 00:57

coming back to this, today he became a free agent

2021-10-15 12:21

fnatic brainded?

2021-10-11 01:26

twitter.com/smooyacs/status/144736466229..

2021-10-11 06:19

Best player and wont play, wow, just sign him!

Why the fuck isn't smooya helping them in the closed qualifier? He literally carried those bots even without practice or any team preparation. Can't wait for fnatic to bomb out the closed qualifiers now.

Still contracted to movistar

2021-10-11 00:19

They will use SMOOOOOya in the major ez major for riders xd

2021-10-11 00:38

Smooya effect

Lmao already improved the team and he is leasing, trash org

Justice for Smooya

2021-10-11 00:17

bc of a couple rounds in nuke, what a heartbreak for EF fans :(

Mistake by Fnatic , Smooya was their best performer with no practice. Immense impact than what Jackinho had ! Hard Luck for EF , threw a lead on Nuke and lost. Hope things get better for them.

2021-10-11 00:28

" It is worth noting that the all-Swedish team was coached by Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström, who has been working with Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson and co. on an informal basis since his retirement as a player in September." Does that mean Haste is no longer the coach of Galaxy racers?

2021-10-11 00:32

Someone sign smoooooooooya

2021-10-11 00:39

I hope they continue with smooya there is no one else they can get that is at his level, and I mean at best his buyout from movistar will be a tiny amount of money

Why are they not gonna continue with Smooya? Literally a beast, had insane performance.

2021-10-11 00:43

it says 'smoya' instead of smooya below his pic... btw, doesn't make any sense that they don't let him play the closed qualy, he carried them through the open, lol

2021-10-11 00:44

Its not that "they don't let him play" he cant play closed qualifiers due being contracted with Movistar Riders

2021-10-11 01:12

he cant play the closed but he can play the open? so weird

2021-10-11 01:13

2021-10-11 01:01

Owen’s face so sexy <3 <3 <3 Was missed

2021-10-11 02:27

fnatic with smooya looking promising. Sad we won't see them @ Major 2021

2021-10-11 02:56

Weird seeing fnatic having an uk flag

2021-10-11 03:30

Agreed

2021-10-11 03:40

Probably just some contract issues with smooya. Fnatic might pick him up when his contract with movistar riders expires. Edit: "Hahaha you silly gooses, the deal between Movistar and Fnatic was to allow me to only play the Open qualifier that's why I won't be playing in the closed. Nothing else behind it! Hopefully I can get back into the server soon as its my only goal right now. Today was super fun!" twitter.com/smooyacs/status/144736466229..

2021-10-11 06:18

Ez for regodli

2021-10-11 09:07

why no smooya

2021-10-11 09:39

So close

2021-10-11 11:24

nt xantares

2021-10-11 12:07

I swear if SAW shits the bed again.....

2021-10-11 12:40

gg ence will rekt everybody

2021-10-11 20:26