ESL Challenger Rotterdam hits playoffs as Eternal Fire recover from opening loss

Movistar Riders and Fluxo have exited the Dutch event in groups as it heads into the final day.

Eternal Fire side have recently been a target of criticism following the controversial decision to dispose of the services of Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli after their inability to qualify for IEM Rio Major, bringing back Yasin "⁠xfl0ud⁠" Koç from the bench and making Ömer "⁠imoRR⁠" Karataş their new in-game leader.

Playing for the first time with their new lineup in Rotterdam, the team came under pressure early following a loss to Movistar Riders in the opening round of Group A. Heading into day two, the Turkish squad were staring down elimination and had to win two consecutive series to make it to playoffs.

An IEM Rio Major precursor awaits in the Rotterdam semi-finals as MOUZ are set to lock horns with Outsiders

Facing off against a big underdog in Nixuh, Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş & co. had to sweat to close out the opening Inferno map in overtime before slamming the South African side in a landslide Vertigo victory, earning a rematch against Movistar Riders in the decider.

Facing off against the Spaniards just a few hours later, the returnee xfl0ud starred as Eternal Fire recovered from a slow start to Vertigo, and the new captain, imoRR, led the way to a convincing closing on Inferno to earn their spot in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Outsiders defeated Fluxo in a rematch from the opening round of Group B to lock in second place, once again surviving an overtime affair on Dust2 against the Brazilian side around João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos and clinching the series on Inferno without much trouble.

ESL Challenger Rotterdam now heads into its final day. In the semi-finals, a precursor to the IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage awaits between MOUZ and Outsiders, and on the other side of the bracket Eternal Fire will face off against their toughest opponent yet in ENCE:

Sunday, October 16
09:00 MOUZ vs. Outsiders
12:30 ENCE vs. Eternal Fire
16:00 Grand final

Outsiders #12 Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliDavid 'n0rb3r7' DanielyanPetr 'fame' Bolyshev Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş Age: 27 Team: Eternal Fire Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1836 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.68 João 'felps' Vasconcellos Age: 25 Team: Fluxo Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1064 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.70 Nixuh #133 Roberto 'blackpoisoN' Dall'OccoAran 'Sonic' GroesbeekTrevor 'kanii' MorleyAdam 'adM' MansoorKian 'Triton' Gibson ENCE #16 Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåPavle 'Maden' BoškovićPaweł 'dycha' DychaÁlvaro 'SunPayus' García Fluxo #56 João 'felps' VasconcellosAdriano 'WOOD7' CeratoVinicius 'vsm' MoreiraLucas 'Lucaozy' NevesLucas 'lux' Meneghini Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koç Age: 19 Team: Eternal Fire Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 316 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.62 Engin 'MAJ3R' Küpeli Age: 31 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 1109 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.67 MOUZ #8 Christopher 'dexter' NongDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýJon 'JDC' de CastroÁdám 'torzsi' TorzsásDorian 'xertioN' Berman Ömer 'imoRR' Karataş Age: 22 Team: Eternal Fire Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 714 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.71 Eternal Fire #22 Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşÖzgür 'woxic' EkerAhmet 'paz' KarahocaÖmer 'imoRR' KarataşYasin 'xfl0ud' Koç Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Movistar Riders #15 Alejandro 'alex' MasanetAlejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo CanoRaúl 'DeathZz' Jordán NietoDavid 'dav1g' Granado BermudoAntonio 'MartinezSa' Martinez