FOKUS FOKUS Europe Rank #48 hoody Aaro Peltokangas YaBoiLewis Lewis Hughes Mistic James Orfila al0rante Felix Brandl xuss Tselmeg Tsolmon has claimed the final spot in the main event of the VCT EMEA Ascension, winning the play-ins grand final 3-1 over S2G Esports S2G Esports Europe Rank #133 pAura Melih Karaduran reazy Kaan Ürpek Turko Mehmet Özen DeepMans Yiğithan Kesici .

EMEA Ascension's extended format accounts for a total of 18 teams, split evenly between the main event and the play-ins. The second-best team for every region fought in the play-ins, battling it to be the 10th team among the nine regional champions in Ascension's main event.

The play-ins kicked off with a group stage, where three groups of three each played a round-robin, where the best-placed team moved to the playoffs. GTZ Esports GTZ Esports Europe Rank #201 H4te Rodrigo Ribeiro Caim Hugo Fonseca were the only team to win their group outright, going 2-0 against S2G Esports S2G Esports Europe Rank #133 pAura Melih Karaduran reazy Kaan Ürpek Turko Mehmet Özen DeepMans Yiğithan Kesici and MOUZ MOUZ Europe Rank #6 Obnoks Nico Garczarczyk iluri Ilari Puranen Fizzy David Figueiredo starki Krzysztof Lewandrowski , while FOKUS FOKUS Europe Rank #48 hoody Aaro Peltokangas YaBoiLewis Lewis Hughes Mistic James Orfila al0rante Felix Brandl xuss Tselmeg Tsolmon and Team Queso Team Queso Inactive mezoky Boom Daniel Jiménez went through due to a larger round differential.

S2G later joined the play-ins playoffs thanks to two victories in the last chance group. They then matched against Queso in the semifinals and won 2-0 (Ascent 14-12; Split 13-7), placing them in the grand finals. FOKUS joined them after a tough 2-0 against GTZ (Lotus 13-5; Pearl 13-10), where they had to stop a comeback on their opponents' Pearl pick.

The grand final between S2G and FOKUS was the tightest affair of the play-ins, as the two locked horns in a four-map affair. The former stole FOKUS' Lotus pick 13-9, but lost to a much rouger 13-4 on Split that leveled the series. After taking a gruelling 14-12 on Fracture, FOKUS cruised to victory on Haven, rounding out the match with a 13-4.

Someone really wants to return to the VCT.

EMEA Ascension takes a beat until June 30, when it returns with the group stage of the main event. FOKUS are placed in Group B, where they'll first play Apeks Apeks Europe Rank #2 florescent Ava Eugene hype Tautvydas Paldavicius MOLSI Michał Łącki AvovA Auni Chahade in a single round-robin format. The best two teams of each group move to the double-elimination playoffs.

The completed Ascension groups are:

Group A

Group B

The winner of the 2023 Ascension tournament will receive a two-year stay in the VCT alongside the partnered teams, which will come with similar benefits and equal chances to qualify for international tournaments.