FOKUS
FOKUS
Europe
Rank #46
Lime
Jacob Foster
bucher
Maximilian Bucher
SEIDER
Mathias Seider
al0rante
Felix Brandl
YaBoiLewis
Lewis Hughes
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 #89
lauress
Toprak Kaynak
Patrui
Göktuğ Uyan
AsLanM4shadoW
Ali Osman Balta
jeyj7y
Soner Eren Kent
russ
Batuhan Malgaç
.
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 #193
Cal
Callum Burgoyne
H4te
Rodrigo Ribeiro
Kayn
Tiago Teixeira Dos Santos
Hiiro
Eric Brassac
Caim
Hugo Fonseca
were the only team to win their group outright, going 2-0 against
S2G Esports
S2G Esports
Europe
Rank #89
lauress
Toprak Kaynak
Patrui
Göktuğ Uyan
AsLanM4shadoW
Ali Osman Balta
jeyj7y
Soner Eren Kent
russ
Batuhan Malgaç
and
MOUZ
MOUZ
Europe
Rank #11
xuss
Tselmeg Tsolmon
Obnoks
Nico Garczarczyk
iluri
Ilari Puranen
Fizzy
David Figueiredo
starki
Krzysztof Lewandrowski
, while
FOKUS
FOKUS
Europe
Rank #46
Lime
Jacob Foster
bucher
Maximilian Bucher
SEIDER
Mathias Seider
al0rante
Felix Brandl
YaBoiLewis
Lewis Hughes
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 #7
hype
Tautvydas Paldavicius
kaajak
Kajetan Haremski
MOLSI
Michał Łącki
soulcas
Dom Sulcas
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
-
CGN Esports
CGN Esports Europe Rank #5 elllement Dragan Milanović aNguiSt Ross Pendleton DaviH David Cruz BennY Benjamin Domgörgen Vince Vincent Kranz (DACH)
-
Digital Athletics
Digital Athletics Europe Rank #194 DeepMans Yiğithan Kesici KILICARSLAN Kılıçarslan Atila mini Muhammed Salman (Turkey)
-
Acend
Acend Europe Rank #9 ALIVE Gilad Hakim musashi Alessio Xhaferi pyrolll Artur Minin cullumx Nikolaj Cullum Andersen chiwa Egor Stepanyuk (East)
-
DSYRE
DSYRE Europe Rank #3 caydeN Yari Olmi Tag Alessandro Voci wackie Rikardo Birjukov waddle Wadir Taraki Filu Dawid Czarnecki (Italy)
-
SAW
SAW Europe Rank #12 Fragger Henrique Correia brk Bruno Ferreira GrTw Tiago Costa Addicted Eduardo Torres Cunha20 David Cunha (Portugal)
Group B
-
Apeks
Apeks Europe Rank #7 hype Tautvydas Paldavicius kaajak Kajetan Haremski MOLSI Michał Łącki soulcas Dom Sulcas AvovA Auni Chahade (Polaris)
-
Case Esports
Case Esports Inactive (Spain)
-
Gentle Mates
Gentle Mates Europe Rank #14 TakaS Jonathan Paupard kAdavra Thomas Johner beyAz Beyazit Körpe nataNk Nathan Bocqueho Wailers Wailers Locart logaN Logan Corti (France)
-
Team Falcons
Team Falcons MENA Rank #1 Sand Mark Emad stand-in Akai SpYzera Abed Doughan Moh Mohammad Bin Oti KHaaLiD Khalid Al Talib (MENA)
-
FOKUS
FOKUS Europe Rank #46 Lime Jacob Foster bucher Maximilian Bucher SEIDER Mathias Seider al0rante Felix Brandl YaBoiLewis Lewis Hughes (Polaris; Play-Ins)
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.