Two EU RMR open qualifiers left: Who still doesn't have a spot?

3/3/2022 - 12:29

There are ten spots remaining between qualifiers three and four, and suitors aplenty.

With the third open qualifier for the PGL Antwerp EU Regional Major Ranking event set to begin, crunch time has begun for teams hoping to make it to the 32-team Major qualifier. Eight teams have already earned spots through the first two qualifiers, and the third and fourth will award ten more.

Open qualifier 3 (March 3-4)
Open qualifier 4 (March 5-6)
Far East Russia qualifier (March 5-6)

So far, HEET, AVE, OG, Dignitas, SINNERS, Spirit, Bad News Eagles, and Endpoint have secured qualification to one of the two EU RMR events. Based on the team sorting and distribution methodology, OG have furthermore lined up a spot in EU RMR A alongside the likes of Natus Vincere and Heroic.

BIG are the highest ranked team not yet qualified

The Big Boys

The two biggest teams who have yet to garner an RMR spot are undoubtedly BIG and fnatic. Both lineups have recently undergone some roster turmoil, with both sides fielding stand-ins. BIG used Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa in place of Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne in qualifier two, while fnatic used Peppe "⁠Peppzor⁠" Borak in place of Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin on top of the recent addition of Iulian "⁠regali⁠" Harjău in both qualifiers.

These two sides fell in the best of one stages of the previous qualifiers, with the Germans losing to Wisla Krakow and Bad News Eagles while the Swedish-British mix fell against AVE and Strive in chaos. With stakes continuing to rise, both teams will see it as imperative to place in the top five of one of the remaining two open brackets.

Strong Contenders

The two other teams within the current top 20 without a spot are K23 and FORZE. While K23 have made it deep in both qualifiers so far, FORZE have yet to make it past the round of 32, being eliminated by UNPLUGG3D, who were later disqualified for cheating, and NLG.

Other strong squads who have made it close in the first two brackets are Movistar Riders, who look to run back their impressive qualification for PGL Stockholm, and Wisla Krakow, who have emerged as the strongest Polish team following the drop off of AGO.

Other Dark Horses

Some other lineups to keep a look out for in the coming days are ECSTATIC, who despite being eliminated early in both qualifiers thus far still have the skill and experience to make the top five, as well as Eternal Fire, SKADE, Sprout, and GamerLegion.

With the number of upsets, especially in the second qualifier, there are sure to be some unexpected results in the coming days, with many a heartbreak. The two qualifiers beginning on March 3 and March 5 are the only remaining opportunities for teams from Europe to qualify for the Major, as there will only be a single RMR tournament for this cycle.

Teams already qualified for the European RMR

EU RMR A

OG

TBD

EU RMR B

ENCE

Imagine if BIG/fnatic don't qualify...

2022-03-03 12:29

11 replies

yiks, but anyway....

2022-03-03 12:31

1 reply

With ten spots I don't think it will happen... Hopefully BENCHED HEROES eliminates them though?

2022-03-03 22:03

ironically, but qualifier will be much harder for BIG than major itself #GoBIG #BIGArmy #AlwaysBIG

2022-03-03 12:34

6 replies

BIG ez top 5

2022-03-03 12:40

3 replies

top 1 after major

2022-03-03 12:42

top 5 in Germany* coming soon

2022-03-03 14:35

#BestInGermany

2022-03-03 15:42

Big useless without anti stratting

2022-03-03 13:00

true KKKKKKKKKK

2022-03-03 15:39

Fnatic have a decent chance of not qualiffying, there are a lot of tier 2-3 European teams that are well established and can beat them in these qualifiers after benching smooya and probably losing Brollan too.

2022-03-03 13:13

Those are pretty bad teams, not surprising at all.

2022-03-03 18:50

fnatic what doink

2022-03-03 12:30

14 replies

Still waiting for Smooya's mix to qualify over Fnatic

2022-03-03 12:33

Same, Benched Heroes has been doing better than Fnatic in the qualifiers. But it's mostly Fnatic's loss of Brollan that killed the team. Peppzor is straight up not good. Regali is also not as good as Smooya, but he looks better now than the previous time he joined.

2022-03-03 12:43

9 replies

Well, the youngsters just need time I guess. We probably shouldn't put too much pressure on them. BH, however, have managed to defeat strong rosters like Nemiga throughout the qualifiers, so, surprisingly, they stand great chances of making it through. It would be an insane redemption arc from smooya if they actually make it.

2022-03-03 12:59

5 replies

No, Peppzor has had a chance before. He is not good enough. Regali looks like he can improve, he'll never be a top AWPer, but he's fine. But Peppzor really should not be on any team that aims to be in the top 30.

2022-03-03 13:20

4 replies

I haven't watched them so can't really comment. I would say that it's too late to slot someone else in as they'd have no time to prep and integrate into the team as it is... they might as well try qualify now and change players after

2022-03-03 16:56

No, with Peppzor on the team it's practically no different from being 4v5, their chances of making it are actually pretty slim. If they can get to the Bo3 maybe, because in a series is where bigger orgs shine, but before then it's going to be tough. They should replace him with anyone else at this point. If they quickly sell Brollan they could get Plopski in return, who's also not good, but better than Peppzor at least.

2022-03-03 18:41

2 replies

Ahh right, he's that bad then. Why don't they take someone from the free agents or benched list? Surely there's a few options out there.

2022-03-03 20:20

I'm not sure, but it might be financial trouble. Peppzor is free because he's already their player (from the academy team).

2022-03-04 00:59

They still have a chance? Idk really asking

2022-03-03 13:40

yes, there are 2 more EU open qualifiers

2022-03-03 14:07

There are two more qualifiers, and each one is easier than the last because the best teams qualify and don't participate in the next. But as long as they have Peppzor on the team I would not bet on them making it through, even in the last one.

2022-03-03 18:42

both will have a really hard time qualifying over teams that have a longer lasting rooster, and set roles especially in Bo1s where you have to play your 4th best map sometimes. I think some russian teams will get cut from the qualifier though sadly.

2022-03-03 14:38

tier 5 team failing to qualify, nothing new here

2022-03-03 13:23

No Brollan kinda sucky :)

2022-03-03 14:36

Would be funi if Big couldnt qualify

I'd include Apeks as well lol

As well as BlueJays and SAW

2022-03-03 12:57

as much as i'd love to see SAW qualify, i still don't believe that they're gonna make it :c

2022-03-03 20:37

Well so far soo good. And I have a feeling both BlueJays and SAW will qualify :D

2022-03-04 00:22

Well, I told you didn't I? Congrats! And I'm pretty confident BlueJays will snatch a spot in the final rmr qualifier

2022-03-05 01:39

lmao how many majors has it been since fnatic played?

2022-03-03 12:32

London 2018 or Kato 2019 if you count main qualifier. So they missed only 1 or 2 depending how you count

2022-03-03 12:39

Eternalfire biggest joke. Turks never surprises

What did you expect? We delusional, overhype everything.

2022-03-03 13:53

I am also Turkish but what I hate is our people is not looking esport as a professional job. They look it like a game but for succession they need to be a professional and work for it.

2022-03-03 22:09

No xfl0ud men((

2022-03-03 16:07

bug clan

First 2 EU RMR have been brutal.

EZ4BADNEWSEAGLES

2022-03-03 12:38

forgot about GamerLegion #27 who made it pretty close in both of the quals

ez for ahmad2k

2022-03-03 12:41

Ez for benched heroes

Which are the good teams in 'far east russia'?

Nobody knows tbh. If that spot even stays in the next weeks

2022-03-04 14:40

"(...)while the Swedes fell against AVE and Strive in chaos." Is fnatic still considered swedish team?

2022-03-03 12:48

i noticed that as well lol. 2 uk 2 swedes (swede swapped out for swede) and romanian

2022-03-03 12:54

2 swedes, 2 brits, 1 rom Can't say that they are ;/

i was tired and my brain was on auto pilot sorry about that one

2022-03-03 16:40

ez for coalesce gamerlegion savage hellslayers

2022-03-03 12:50

where is my faceit mix?

RMR A is much more stacked than B wtf?

Fnatic, just rebuild, please. Brollan and Krimz won't prolly want to stay in Fnatic and the core of Alex, Mezii and Regali isn't the best for trying to challenge tier 1 teams. Something like this could work: Support: Amanek / doto / jabbi IGL: Azr / or keep Alex Entry: Boros / xertioN Lurker: jks, JDC etc. AWP: mhL, deko, w0nderful, Woro2k etc. (keep Regali, If there isn't a better AWPer available)

2022-03-03 13:01

Dropping Mezii doesn't seem like a great move though

Yeah he's been really good tbh. You can definitely keep him and Alex to build around (Alex mainly because the lack of any better IGL's being available)

2022-03-03 13:38

oh, my bad: then something like: doto / Amanek ALEX Mezii Boros deko / Woro2k / w0nderful / mhL / poizon etc. Poizon, Deko and Woro2k would be kinda risky due to the toxicity rumors (yea, the source is HLTV which isnt the best source to say the least)

2022-03-03 16:32

For#EF lets go

2022-03-03 13:06

Just making these qualifiers is massive... Alot of teams wont be able to play due to travel restrictions for russians.

Wait a minute.... "being eliminated by UNPLUGG3D, who were later disqualified for cheating" So, someone from "UNPLUGG3D" was playing with cheats, they beat a lot of teams, they got disqualified, and then? what happens? the last team they won continue to compete in their place or the next team they would face wins for w.o?

2022-03-03 13:10

Yea, that's a real problem to make fair

2022-03-03 13:14

Forze got absolutely cucked. Could have been a rmr spot right there

2022-03-04 14:42

Something tells me that Eternal Fire and BIG will face off in these qualifiers. And you already know what will happen when something like this happens.

2022-03-03 13:12

I don't follow these qualifiers that well but " forZe have yet to make it past the round of 32, being eliminated by UNPLUGG3D, who were later disqualified for cheating, and NLG." So Forze lost against cheaters, who later got disqualified? Shouldn't they just let Forze win and replay all the other rounds unplugged has played? Maybe I am missing information.

It's not that easy though.The cheaters defeated some other teams before forze so they would have to nearly reset that side of the bracket, which might not be fair to other teams

2022-03-03 13:35

Yeah ofc they need to replay the whole side of the bracket? But it is fair tho? Its just unfair to the team that won against the cheaters. All the other teams lost anyway and are happy to replay the other matches, no?

2022-03-03 13:37

Com'on Dignitas. Daddy need ur stickers soooo bad

2022-03-03 13:21

Those groups don't look balanced to me, it looks much more difficult to qualify from A than B

2022-03-03 13:17

come on apeks, you gotta make it

I assume UNPLUGG3D was the team we saw all those clips from posted by one of ForZe members?

What about BenchedHeroes, they literally beat every tier 2/3 team, except the tier 1.5 teams, lol (and dignitas)

2022-03-03 13:25

In the first attempt the leadership of fear looked pretty impecable, but since he is Ukranian, he couldn't play in the 2nd RMR cause of the war and they played with Kvik instead. I wasn't amazed with how they played without fear's IGL. They all were sprouting ideas here and there. T sides on tactical maps can be a problem for them.

You clearly don't speak Russian, fear wasn't playing because he had bad internet. Kvik was their sub.

I was watching Smooya's stream, so I understand his english and explanation. And yes, I believe the internet problem is very probably connected to the war in Ukraine. You didn't say anything I haven't said? Without any offense meant.

2022-03-03 13:42

Well, it doesn't have to be because of the war.

2022-03-03 14:00

EF LUL

2022-03-03 13:47

Its really surprisingly what Far East Russia qualifier isn't cancelled EU love to ban all Russians in everything because crazy elder started a war

2022-03-03 13:52

You forgot team falcons ez major

Lets go SAW,OFFSET and FTW!!!

2022-03-03 14:03

UNPLUGG3D, who were later disqualified for cheating lol

2022-03-03 14:04

XD it's the typical matchmaking hackers that think they're better than s1mple etc

2022-03-03 17:01

plz my boyz. take this today and tomorrow. Let's go BIG, a major without BIG is boring. BIG will create the most viewers ever. Also people in Kongo watch my BIG boyz !

2022-03-03 14:32