Forsaken earn final IEM Sydney NA closed qualifier berth over EG

A lone IEM Sydney berth will be up for grabs when the closed qualifier goes live on August 24-25.

Forsaken have picked up the final IEM Sydney North America closed qualifier berth after prevailing in the second open bracket, notably reverse-sweeping Evil Geniuses in a three-map series to get the job done.

The American-majority roster now join M80 in earning a closed qualifier berth through one of the two open qualifier brackets, with the other two spots in the four-team competition being filled by Complexity and Nouns, who each received invites.

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M80 advance to IEM Sydney NA closed qualifier over EG

Forsaken breezed through the vast majority of the competition, recording commanding victories up until they matched with Party Astronauts in the Round of 16, where a 16-10 scoreline was required to progress further.

From there, the Canadian-American troupe moved past Bad News Bears, featuring Joshua "⁠steel⁠" Nissan and Jonathan "⁠Jonji⁠" Carey, with a more labored 16-12 showing to set the stage for an all-important best-of-three bout with Evil Geniuses.

Colby "⁠Walco⁠" Walsh and company started the qualifying fixture on the right foot, a 16-12 victory on Mirage giving Evil Geniuses a leg-up in the series. Forsaken stabilized in the latter two maps of the series, however, returning the favor with their own 16-12 win on Vertigo before trouncing their foes 16-6 on Overpass to win the series, 2-1, and earn the final place in the closed qualifier.

The IEM Sydney North America closed qualifier will play out on August 24-25 and offer just one berth to the main $250,000 event in Australia, which itself features a number of tier-one sides and will go live on October 16-23.

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IEM Sydney invites revealed

The team list for the IEM Sydney North America closed qualifier is: