Na'Vi, Gambit, five more qualify for PGL Stockholm Major

Steven Rondina Published 03/10/2021

IEM Fall 2021 has wrapped up in the CIS, South America, and Oceania regions. With that, the first set of PGL Stockholm Major teams have been confirmed.

The five representatives of the CIS region and singular representatives for both Oceania and South America have all been decided. Alongside this, each of the teams now knows which stage in the tournament they will begin in.

The breakdown is as follows:

Natus Vincere (Legend)
Gambit Esports (Legend)
Team Spirit (Challenger)
Virtus.pro (Contender)
Entropiq (Contender)
Renegades (Contender)
Sharks Esports (Contender)

This represents half of the competitive field for the contender stage, which will effectively be an eight-team play-in tournament event to determine the teams set for the challenger stage. Several European teams have also secured places in the PGL Stockholm Major, but it is unclear where they will be seeded into the tournament.

Gambit Esports and Renegades win IEM Fall 2021 CIS, Oceania

Three of the IEM Fall 2021 regional tournaments have concluded and none of them had especially surprising results. The 12-team CIS tournament was easily the biggest of the three and featured several highly-ranked teams.

Unevenly distributed groups saw an awkward result with three-way ties in both. Group A saw Natus Vincere sprint to a 5-0 record but Entropiq, Team Spirit, and Nemiga Gaming tied for second at 3-2 with Entropiq heading to the playoffs, Spirit playing a fifth-place tiebreaker, and Nemiga getting an early elimination. In Group B, Gambit Esports, Virtus.pro, and the unheralded Inde Irae went 4-1, which left Gambit and VP moving to the playoffs and Inde Irae being relegated.

https://twitter.com/IEM/status/1444647837829148673

Natus Vincere and Gambit met in the finals, with Gambit taking a 2-0 victory. The playoffs were of little consequence, however. Once Team Spirit was out of the playoffs, the final RMR rankings were already decided and seeding into the PGL Stockholm Major was finalized. Na`Vi and Gambit were destined for a legend stage start, Team Spirit was headed to the challenger stage, and both Virtus.pro and Entropiq would need to work their way through the contender stage.

Oceania’s RMR events were largely expected to conclude with Renegades getting a spot in the PGL Stockholm Major and that’s exactly how it played out. With very little trouble, Renegades won the IEM Fall 2021 tournament after a 3-0 grand finals victory.

MIBR will not play in PGL Stockholm Major

Though it wasn’t necessarily a significant shock on paper, the South American branch of IEM Fall 2021 did see MIBR knocked out of contention for a spot in the PGL Stockholm Major. Though MIBR won the first RMR event of the season, a third-place showing in Elite League Season 2 put the team in a precarious position.

Then at IEM Fall 2021, MIBR was knocked out in third place once again by Sharks Esports. This guaranteed Sharks a first-place finish in the RMR standings and the region’s one spot in the contender stage of the major.

https://twitter.com/sharksesportsgg/status/1444464269471494148

While this isn’t the star-studded MIBR roster with a championship core that most fans are accustomed to, it’s still one of CSGO’s biggest names and most identifiable brands. MIBR has fizzled in international competition since its newest roster came together in January 2021 and likely wouldn’t have posted a strong run at the PGL Stockholm Major even if it had qualified, but not seeing MIBR at a CSGO major will still make for a change.

South American CSGO fans are still spoiled for choice when it comes to teams to root for. Alongside Sharks Esports, Furia Esports and 00Nation are also positioned to qualify for the major. Godsent, paiN Gaming, and Team One could also sneak their way into the major with a strong showing in IEM Fall 2021’s North American tournament.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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