The Europe Minor Closed Qualifier has been brought to an end, with a number of favorites unable to secure spots at the Minor in Rio.
The final day of the Europe Minor closed qualifier kicked off with the first leg of lower-bracket matches, with OG being the biggest name competing early on. Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen's men took down KOVA 2-0 to advance further in the qualifier, while Copenhagen Flames managed the only upset of the round by taking down Sprout 2-1.
The next round of matches decided which teams would secure their spot at the Minor and join the likes of Complexity and fnatic. In a Danish derby, Copenhagen Flames (ranked 35th in the world) managed an even bigger upset than in round one, qualifying for the Minor at the expense of the 14th best team - HEROIC.
Losses to Heretics and GODSENT cost OG a place at the Minor
BIG's inability to close out Overpass despite Florian "syrsoN" Rische's 44K-27D game ended up costing them massively in the series against Movistar Riders. Lucas "steel" Lopes's squad claimed the first map in overtime (22-20) and took a 2-1 series win (11-16 Mirage, 16-4 Inferno) to become the first Spanish-majority team to qualify for a Minor.
GODSENT opened their series against OG with a dominant victory on their opponents' map pick (Train 16-3), but Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt and co. kept alive on Dust2, edging out a victory after two sets of Overtime (22-20). Nuke was again a tight affair, with both teams posting strong T sides, but it was GODSENT that came out on top, in the end, thanks to a 1v1 clutch pulled off by Kevin "kRYSTAL" Amend, earning his team a Minor spot.
Jesper "TENZKI" Plougmann's 35 kills in regulation pushed Nordavind across the finish line on Dust2, giving the underdogs a one map lead, but the Swedish veterans bounced back on their map pick, Nuke, to force the decider on Inferno. Playing against his former team, Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli had a subdued performance in the series, but Dignitas were able to close out the series nonetheless, 2-1, and qualify for the Minor.
The eight European teams that will be vying for Major Qualifier spots are as follows: