SAW win ESL Challenger S43 Europe; Spirit qualify for EPL S17 Conference

20/12/2022 - 15:00

The Portuguese squad doubled up on the Russians to win the online event.

SAW defeated tournament favorites Spirit to come out victorious in the grand final of ESL Challenger League Season 43 Europe. Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes' men took home the top prize of $20,000 with only two maps losses across the tournament and twice defeating a squad 36 spots higher than them in the rankings.

The ESL Pro League Season 17 Conference spot available for the champions was awarded to Spirit as SAW had already qualified for the event thanks to their victory at ESL Masters Spain Season 12 Finals in Madrid earlier in December.

MUTiRiS' men ended the event undefeated on Nuke, Inferno, and Vertigo

ESL Challenger League Season 43 was the competition's first edition to implement a new format which combined regular season and playoffs into one large double-elimination bracket.

Spirit came into the event ranked #12 in the world after a quarter-final finish at the IEM Rio Major, which made them tournament favorites, although their performance against Tricked in CCT South Europe Series 1 a few days prior put doubts on their ability to dispatch lower-ranked opposition.

ESL Challenger League Season 43 set to begin

Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov's team began their campaign in the round of 16 and defeated HEET in a match featuring a Dust2 that went to five sets of extra time. They also played fixtures against Sprout and FTW. Meanwhile, MUTiRiS and company rode the bracket all the way to the upper final, in which they avenged their compatriots from FTW and handed Spirit their first defeat at the event.

SAW's run to the final included triumphs over other higher-ranked opposition, including the new Vladislav "⁠Krad⁠" Kravchenko-powered FORZE and IESF World Championship winners BLUEJAYS, as well as a win over ex-Finest and a default victory against Eternal Fire.

SAW defeat Case to earn ESL Pro League Season 17 Conference berth

Spirit didn't have to wait and got their chance for revenge over the Portuguese quintet as Sprout forfeited the consolidation final, gifting the Russian squad a ticket to the last match.

The grand final played out in a best-of-five format with a one-map advantage for SAW as a reward for their undefeated run through the upper bracket. The Portuguese squad extended their series advantage to 2-0 after edging out Spirit on Nuke 16-14, securing their 100% win rate on the map at the event.

SAW started off terribly on the CT side and conceded a 5-10 scoreline before the break, but the offense proved more successful and MUTiRiS led the way on the T side with a 1.59 rating to push his team over the line. Overpass then went the way of Spirit as Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov, Igor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov, and Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev powered a near-flawless CT half to claim the 16-12 victory in favor of the Russian core.

The series was decided on Vertigo, a map characterized by two dominant 11-4 offensive halves from both squads which led to the first overtime of the series, which SAW secured 19-17 in extra time. Michel "⁠ewjerkz⁠" Pinto was a key element for his team with a 1.16 rating and an impressive eight opening frags.

The two teams will fly to Malta in February 2023 to compete at ESL Conference Season 17, where six ESL Pro League spots will be up for grabs.

ESL Challenger League Season 43 EuropeBest of 5

SAW

Matchpage

19th December 2022

Spirit

Default

Nuke

Overpass

Vertigo

SAW	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Michel 'ewjerkz' Pinto ewjerkz	66 - 69	-3	79.4	1.11
Christopher 'MUTiRiS' Fernandes MUTiRiS	63 - 56	+7	77.0	1.10
Tiago 'JUST' Moura JUST	62 - 56	+6	66.6	1.04
Ricardo 'roman' Oliveira roman	53 - 66	-13	66.5	0.90
João 'story' Vieira story	44 - 60	-16	53.3	0.86

Spirit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev magixx	68 - 54	+14	83.3	1.26
Pavel 's1ren' Ogloblin s1ren	76 - 58	+18	82.4	1.23
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov chopper	58 - 56	+2	66.1	1.00
Robert 'Patsi' Isyanov Patsi	63 - 71	-8	76.1	0.98
Igor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov w0nderful	40 - 53	-13	46.8	0.87

The ESL Pro League Season 17 Conference team list is as follows:

The final placements for ESL Challenger League S43 Europe are:

1. SAW - $20,000
2. Spirit - $11,500 + EPL Confrence S17 spot
3. Sprout - $7,000
4. FORZE - $4,000
5-6. FTW - $2,500
5-6. BLUEJAYS - $2,500
7-8. Sangal - $1,250
7-8. Endpoint - $1.250
9-12 9INE
9-12 Movistar Riders
9-12 fnatic Rising
9-12 Permitta
13-16 Bad News Eagles
13-16 ex-Finest
13-16 ECSTATIC
13-16 K23
17-24 HEET - Relegation S43
17-24 EPG Family - Relegation S43
17-24 AGO - Relegation S43
17-24 1WIN - Relegation S43
17-24 Falcons - Relegation S43
17-24 UNGENTIUM - Relegation S43
17-24 SINNERS - Relegation S43
17-24 Eternal Fire - Relegation S43

spirit really threw that last map

2022-12-20 15:01

4 replies

Sure, when sAw wins its always throw hahah

2022-12-20 15:07

1 reply

nope, first game wasn't

2022-12-20 15:15

saw also played high level in the last map, after it spirit chocked a lot, was very well played and really tired maps.

2022-12-21 18:32

They did

2022-12-22 01:47

Congratulations SAW!! Finally! Unfortunately on the 1st time it doesn't get access to the Pro League, but I keep believing it's possible. #sawtouadar

2022-12-20 15:04

6 replies

they already have a spot wym

2022-12-20 15:08

5 replies

To the Conference league. Previously the winner was qualified directly to Pro League

2022-12-20 15:09

that was changed ages ago, now they have to qualify to conference then pro league itself

2022-12-20 15:10

Last time the winner was qualified directly to Pro League, it was for season 38 more than a year ago.

2022-12-20 16:53

2 replies

Fair enough, just wanted to highlight that we got to the final twice before and lost and now it was our chance. Either way, I don't agree with this format, especially taking into account how this competition was packed with pretty good teams

2022-12-21 05:13

I agree the format pretty sucks, Heet will compete to a spot EPL while being in ESEA advanced somehow. They should do just one larger season with the winner going directly to EPL and 2 - 4 to a conference with others regions.

2022-12-21 13:08

why did saw didn`t earned the spot wtffff

2022-12-20 15:05

They already had it from ESL Masters España

Saw supremacy?

2022-12-20 15:54

Because they already have one from this event: hltv.org/events/6881/esl-masters-spain-s..

Oh tyty i was shocked for a moment

I belive in Michel Supremacy!

well done SAW!

Russians down!!! EZ GG

Cringe

2022-12-20 17:42

3 replies

You literally have the most cringe name in hltv lmao

2022-12-20 22:08

Flag, flair

2022-12-21 01:28

No argument + cringe + cry more

2022-12-21 16:46

ez4saw

2022-12-20 15:20

Win or lose Spirit still qualified, so wtv :) But SAW played well GG

2022-12-20 15:21

Nice mr portugals

2022-12-20 15:26

w0nderful story

2022-12-20 15:39

That was funny

2022-12-20 15:51

ikr, shoulda been the title of this thread B)

2022-12-20 16:01

Nice

25 teams, spirit qualify via esl ranking, esl is missing something xd

2022-12-20 15:45

So at this point it's safe to say that OG will be at Pro League, outsiders and spirit qualify through conference and 3 spots will be given to c9, og and some tier2-3 team apparently

2022-12-20 15:48

Gratz!

2022-12-20 15:57

Portugal ON TOP

2022-12-20 16:07

2022-12-22 01:46

Ganda Michel

2022-12-20 16:16

SAW win Master PT League, ESL Master Spain, and ESL Challenger so that means that Case (ESL Spain runner-up) also gets a spot?

2022-12-20 17:20

9 replies

nha bro, they will probally give to FTW (Master league PT runner up)

2022-12-20 18:04

Im not sure but I think master league portugal does not give a spot to the conference. If it did, maybe there will be a Case vs FTW for the spot

2022-12-20 18:09

it does according to liquipedia

2022-12-20 20:40

Case will most likely get a spot as from being second in Masters Spain and FTW will most likely get a spot from MLP. Or else they may go to a play-in, with other teams for a spot at epl s17 conference.

2022-12-20 20:02

in liquipedia case is in conference, but i think they will have to go through play-ins like ftw, it makes more sense

2022-12-20 20:41

it says, but some portuguese people relevent in the cs scene where saying it wasn't fully accurate liquipedia, they said it was very confusing and esl was still going to clear the doubts, lets wait and see

2022-12-20 21:44

ok thanks for the info bro

2022-12-20 23:06

That's fake

2022-12-21 00:45

No it's not case, ftw takes it as esl masters spain slot gives direct acess, mlp one only gives play in access, so saw are using the esl masters slot

2022-12-21 00:44

Meaningless game

2022-12-20 17:43

20k to 10k prize difference is a pretty substancial difference

2022-12-20 20:15

Noice

2022-12-20 18:02

sewy

2022-12-20 19:45

Is the ESL Pro League Season 17 Conference team list completed?

2022-12-20 20:11

I think so yes

2022-12-20 22:09

No, ftw is missing

thats why i was asking, isnt a play-in gonna be played?

yes, and the main conference only has like 16 teams. hltv got it all wrong

2022-12-21 00:51

It is

ronaldo>pessi

2022-12-20 23:03

Nope

portuguese cs xd

2022-12-21 00:00

8 replies

Better than canadian cs lol

2022-12-21 00:43

7 replies

naf, twistzz????????????????????????

2022-12-21 22:18

They have 2 players but 0 teams. We had a player in several semifinals and quarterfinals back then, and now we have one good tier 2/1,5 team and a good tier 3 team.

2022-12-22 10:20

naf + twistzz + fang + 2 randoms > SAW Canadians don't care about making a only canadian team irmaozinho, they happily team with Americans with no issue whatsoever. And Twistzz is much better than Fox ever was on CSGO.

2022-12-22 15:09

anti-nação só pode vai cagar seu gay

2022-12-25 22:41

cago e na boca da tua velha seu imbecil, sou apenas realista e nao um parasita como tu

2022-12-28 00:28

realista é tua mãe na minha cama hoje á noite

2022-12-31 16:46

Fang is awful lol, and his "amazing" team lost 16-9 to sAw lool

2022-12-29 14:13

Good for them