Movistar Riders dispatch GamerLegion to qualify for EPL playoffs

31-8-2023 19:06

GamerLegion have been relegated to the lower bracket after failing to close a 15-12 lead on Ancient.

alex and JUST led the line for Movistar Riders with 1.27 ratings each

Movistar Riders have secured their place in the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 18 after defeating GamerLegion 2-0 in Group A's upper semi-final. The Spanish core impressed in their second match as they secured another sweep, following up on their earlier success against FURIA from the previous day of play.

The Spaniards are now scheduled to face the winner of Vitality vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas for a chance to claim the top spot in the group and a ticket to the quarter-finals.

Movistar Riders fend off KSCERATO brilliance to best FURIA in Malta

This is an impressive result for Movistar Riders, who come into the Maltese LAN after a series of disappointing online results with their new roster featuring Adam "⁠adamS⁠" Marian. The Romanian rifler joined the squad after the team's summer bootcamp, but still managed to produce solid results on Anubis despite not being fully familiar with his new roles.

bladE: "There's an obvious difference in level with our opponents, but there's also a certain parity"

Movistar Riders kickstarted the series on their pick of Ancient with a rock-solid CT side, which was defined by Alejandro "⁠mopoz⁠" Fernández-Quejo Cano and adamS's defensive performances and their energetic celebrations after every win. The duo combined for 26 frags in the first half, and proved invaluable in the Spaniards' run to a 10-5 scoreline.

GamerLegion managed to claw back at the deficit after switching sides, but were unable to keep up their challenge for long. After a slow start to the half, Movistar Riders halted the European mix's resurgence and closed their map pick 16-12.

Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov's men started off much better on Ancient and quickly claimed a 6-1 lead on the T side before Movistar Riders found their footing. The Spaniards bounced back as Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet led by example with a 1.53 rating, and moved into the second half with a narrow 8-7 advantage.

GamerLegion repeated the same mistakes from the first half after moving to the CT side and failed to close a 15-12 lead, being forced into overtime and conceding their map pick 16-19. Tiago "⁠JUST⁠" Moura was a joy to watch on Ancient, and was crucial in Movistar Riders' comeback in the second half with a 1.50 T rating.

ESL Pro League Season 18Best of 3

Movistar Riders

Matchpage

31st August 2023

GamerLegion

Anubis

Ancient

Movistar Riders	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Tiago 'JUST' Moura JUST	52 - 42	+10	92.1	1.27
Alejandro 'alex' Masanet alex	50 - 37	+13	89.6	1.27
Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Cano mopoz	46 - 36	+10	79.6	1.23
Adam 'adamS' Marian adamS	42 - 42	0	73.6	1.04
Antonio 'Martinez' Martinez Martinez	33 - 36	-3	48.4	0.91

GamerLegion	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus Keoz	41 - 45	-4	80.4	1.00
Isak 'isak' Fahlén isak	39 - 45	-6	69.7	0.94
Frederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand acoR	38 - 39	-1	55.0	0.91
Sanzhar 'neaLaN' Iskhakov neaLaN	38 - 45	-7	67.7	0.90
Sebastian 'volt' Maloș volt	36 - 51	-15	69.0	0.86

VAMOS ESPAÑA also, talk about being LANers lmao. Not that it's a bad thing.

2023-08-31 19:08

VAMOS

2023-08-31 19:07

Lets go IBERIA !!

Movistar on lan > faze in their peak

LANISTAR

Respect +1

Pro league is our movie and we are going to ride it till the end

2023-08-31 19:10

Nice showing by Movistar Riders. ^^ That second map was close.

Very cool

as it should always be, Movistar in EPL playoffs

2023-08-31 19:11

Just deserves it so much

2023-08-31 19:13

vamos

2023-08-31 19:14

yo SAW, remember you kicked Just?? LUL lets goooo MR

2023-08-31 19:15

They always overperform in these tournaments but can never qualify for a major. Very odd

2023-08-31 19:23

14 replies

we suck at online qualifiers :( it's our curse

2023-08-31 21:02

2 replies

The main qualifier is on lan. That’s where Movistar lost

2023-08-31 21:12

1 reply

Movistar never manage to make it to the RMRs.

2023-09-01 06:33

To qualify for events they need to win like 5 bo1 in a day against stacks that you don't know how they play(or if they cheat because online)+ with almost no time between games + then some more bo3 against decent T3 teams that have good players. If volvo disband paid spots, you'll see how all teams have problems to be regular

2023-08-31 21:10

5 replies

Still the most good teams make it through , Movistar underperforms

4 replies

MR are not rich so you can't compare them to G2 or Astralis. Sunpayus said that what impressed him on Ence is that after the game ended, they already had all their mistakes pointed and by next morning a full review of the game while on riders they had to do a meeting and reviewed together which was impossible to do it in depth with thight schedule events. They are not a team to win a major, just the chance to see them on T1 events doing deep runs is already great.

2023-08-31 21:20

3 replies

There are other teams that have even less resources who made it to the major so you’re making excuses for them.

2023-08-31 21:48

Lol, they made it to one major, just not final stage. Like most of the other T3 teams who get to major, even if they do a good run, they got their best players bought so they can't be consistent, or do you think apeks, GL or monte will do something after they got no invite.

2023-08-31 22:14

To one major yes, my point being theyre not consistent but play good on other lans. No, MR only lost one player to another team, not that many in years.

2023-08-31 22:45

Movistar qualified for Stockholm Major, but nothing since then.

2023-08-31 21:29

as pointed before by others, you need to regularly be at a good level before a major starts in order to qualify for it, and this is not always the case for Movistar Riders. Still, "can never qualify for a major" is false. they qualified for Stockholm 2021, so they havent done bad these last few years

2023-08-31 21:30

1 major in 3 years isn’t good my friend.

in Spanish standards it is man, nobody expected a full Spanish roster to qualify for a Major after the m1xwell-lowel duo couldn't do it a few years earlier, so I'd say it's more than good.

2023-08-31 22:58

For you maybe but I think MR expect more. All the changes they are doing to the team it’s obvious they have higher ambitions.

2023-08-31 23:06