After a super-week for Group A teams in general, ESEA Season 38 EU Premier week 6 gave Group B teams a chance to get their games up-to-date. With an overwhelming 16 matches played throughout four days; 5 games belong to Group A (with 3 of those being sAw catching up on their calendar) and 11 games coming from Group B.
Group A
To open the penultimate week of the group stage we had the current Group A leaders, DBL Poney, facing off Akuma. The sensational French group once again proved their value by beating the Ukrainians 2-1, extending Akuma’s losing streak to 4 games. The ponies have now clinched a playoff spot in their inaugural Premier appearance.
Next up was Sangal vs ENTERPRISE; with the Slovakia-based org at the bottom of the table, Sangal made quick work of them and won 2-0, making it impossible for ENTERPRISE to reach postseason with only 1 match left for most of the teams of the group.
To close out the Group A affairs, sAw played thrice in order to catch up to their opponents in terms of the number of matches. The Portuguese’s first game of the week was against the very consistent BLINK and it went to the very last round of the decider, with sAw letting the game slip; 2-1 to BLINK was the final result. With their playoffs chance in jeopardy, the Portuguese warriors fought against the Scandinavian Vikings from Apeks in a bloody battle, with 3 players having 60+ kills in the series, which culminated in a 2-1 win for sAw. Their final game of the week came against Sangal, who needed a win to clinch the final playoff spot from Group A. This game was do or die for the Portuguese, as a loss would put them out of playoff contention. Unfortunately, they were unable to secure the win with the Turkish side cruising past them on a 2-0 sweep, leaving sAw in a fight not to get relegated.
Group B
Starting out a long week of games from Group B we had Anonymo vs GamerLegion which ended in a quick 2-0 sweep for Anonymo. The second day of games saw the Polish playing again, this time against SKADE, in a match that also ended 2-0 but with the Bulgarians taking the win (their first for this season).
At the same time, Endpoint faced GamerLegion and LDLC battled Wisła Kraków. The British lost 2-1 after winning the German org’s pick and LDLC won 2-1 after losing their pick to the Krakow-base org.
The next day of games had a SKADE double-header, as the Bulgarians swept Wisła Kraków and lost 2-1 against Movistar Riders in a match for the ages. SKADE and Movistar didn’t play again in the week, with both teams having a total of 2 wins, but the Spanish have one less game compared to the Bulgarians.
Still on the same day, AGO had to fight Anonymo in order to keep their first place safe and so they did, giving their fellow countrymen on Anonymo no chance to contend for the win. 2-0 was the final result, meaning AGO have secured their playoff spot no matter what happens this week. Endpoint and LDLC closed out day 3 of week 6 on a high note, with a match to later rewatch if you are a fan of the French team; 2-1 was the final result in favor of LDLC.
The week was coming to an end and after that loss against LDLC, the Endpoint squad may have been bummed out but they had to play against Wisła Kraków. It was the third game for both teams meaning the players were warmed up but also tired as the EU Premier isn’t the only competition that they’re competing in. In a match decided in the details, the Polish came out on top 2-1 with much thanks to team resilience.
To finally end the week, Endpoint closed off their regular season against Movistar Riders, in a match that ended 2-0 in favor of the British, and Anonymo faced Wisła. This was both teams’ fourth game of the week, a record this season, tied with Endpoint. The game was quick as Anonymo swept their fellow countrymen 2-0 after some great second halves.
