The second season of VCT EMEA has concluded, setting the stage for Champions Seoul qualification. Due to the inclusion of Kickoff at the beginning of the year, teams played one round-robin throughout the year, split into two stages. This allowed Stage 2 to integrate both groups into one league table, of which the top-six overall would advance to playoffs.
FUT Esports
FUT Esports
Europe
Rank #10
MrFaliN
Furkan Yeğen
yetujey
Eray Budak
AtaKaptan
Ata Tan
cNed
Mehmet Yağız İpek
qRaxs
Doğukan Balaban
and
Team Heretics
Team Heretics
Europe
Rank #1
MiniBoo
Dominykas Lukaševičius
Wo0t
Mert Alkan
RieNs
Enes Ecirli
benjyfishy
Benjamin David Fish
Boo
Ričardas Lukaševičius
both earned top seeds, avoiding the single elimination portion of the bracket. Alongside Heretics, three teams return to playoffs for the third time this year:
FNATIC
FNATIC
Europe
Rank #2
Boaster
Jake Howlett
Chronicle
Timofey Khromov
Alfajer
Emir Ali Beder
,
Karmine Corp
Karmine Corp
Europe
Rank #33
MAGNUM
Martin Penkov
tomaszy
Tomás Machado
N4RRATE
Marshall Massey
marteen
Martin Pátek
sh1n
Ryad Ensaad
, and
Natus Vincere
Natus Vincere
Europe
Rank #21
ANGE1
Kyrylo Karasov
Shao
Andrey Kiprsky
.
Team Vitality
Team Vitality
Europe
Rank #9
trexx
Nikita Cherednichenko
Kicks
Kimmie Laasner
runneR
Emil Trajkovski
ceNder
Jokūbas Labutis
Sayf
Saif Jibraeel
round out the top-six, after only losing once to group leaders FNATIC in the second half of the year.
Three teams maintained hopes until the end
Playoffs entry came down to the final day of the season, with three different teams relying on the results of the last two matches, NAVI vs. Gentle Mates and Vitality vs. Karmine Corp, to punch their tickets to the knockout stage.
Gentle Mates
Gentle Mates
Europe
Rank #23
K4DAVRA
Thomas Johner
beyAz
Beyazit Körpe
nataNk
Nathan Bocqueho
Wailers
Wailers Locart
logaN
Logan Corti
needed a victory against NAVI to stay in contention, while
Team Liquid
Team Liquid
Europe
Rank #24
nAts
Ayaz Akhmetshin
Keiko
Georgio Sanassy
were hoping for the same result for an opportunity at playoffs. A Gentle Mates victory could potentially end in a five-way tie between teams with a 4-6 record, which meant the final game of the season would confirm the final two playoff teams.
NAVI needed to win the series, but were coming into the match with a five-game losing streak. The team had failed to win a single map since their Stage 1 playoffs match against Team Heretics, and their year was on the line.
The team opted for a return to their signature roles, with Shao on initiator and ANGE1 on controller. This decision helped them take their opponent's map pick, Sunset, but they lost Ascent 13-8. In the end, a close win on the decider map secured NAVI a spot in playoffs and eliminated both Gentle Mates and Liquid from Champions contention.
Rookies surprise, Derke dominates
In terms of rating, a handful of newcomers and returning players joined the usual suspects towards the top of the table. Last-minute FNATIC pickup
hiro
appeared among the top ten, while
KOI
KOI
Europe
Rank #47
kamo
Kamil Frąckowiak
ShadoW
Tobias Flodström
grubinho
Grzegorz Ryczko
sheydos
Bogdan Naumov
's rookie controller
grubinho
showed up fifth overall.
Despite a negative record in the stage, a second KOI player, sheydos , entered the ten highest-rated players, with a 1.17 rating. This marks his first top-ten placement in an EMEA regular season since 2022.
By far the standout player was Derke , who topped the region in terms of rating, ACS, KD ratio, ADR, and KPR. In fact, he was the only primary duelist player to feature in the top ten players in terms of rating, with Sayf and cNed barely missing out at 11th and 12th, respectively.
VCT EMEA 2024 Stage 2 Regular Season results
Due to the circuit point system for Champions qualification, the cutoff for which teams made it to the Stage 2 playoffs was determined by their overall regular season results, not just their Stage 2 performance. The top-six teams from the regular season have a chance to qualify directly to Champions 2024 via the EMEA playoffs, as well as a last opportunity to earn points and qualify as the region's fourth seed.
Here is how each team performed in Stage 2:
Group Alpha:
-
FNATIC
FNATIC Europe Rank #2 Boaster Jake Howlett Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder (4-0, +40)
-
Team Vitality
Team Vitality Europe Rank #9 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Kicks Kimmie Laasner runneR Emil Trajkovski ceNder Jokūbas Labutis Sayf Saif Jibraeel (3-1, +7)
-
BBL Esports
BBL Esports Europe Rank #40 Elite Efe Teber pAura Melih Karaduran Brave Eren Kasırga reazy Kaan Ürpek QutionerX Doğukan Dural (1-3, -5)
-
Karmine Corp
Karmine Corp Europe Rank #33 MAGNUM Martin Penkov tomaszy Tomás Machado N4RRATE Marshall Massey marteen Martin Pátek sh1n Ryad Ensaad (1-3, -20)
-
Team Liquid
Team Liquid Europe Rank #24 nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy (1-3, -22)
Group Omega:
-
Team Heretics
Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius (5-0, +50)
-
FUT Esports
FUT Esports Europe Rank #10 MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak AtaKaptan Ata Tan cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qRaxs Doğukan Balaban (4-1, +37)
-
KOI
KOI Europe Rank #47 kamo Kamil Frąckowiak ShadoW Tobias Flodström grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko sheydos Bogdan Naumov (2-3, +4)
-
GIANTX
GIANTX Europe Rank #20 purp0 Semyon Borchev Cloud Kirill Nehozhin (2-3, -31)
-
Natus Vincere
Natus Vincere Europe Rank #21 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky (1-4, -44)
-
Gentle Mates
Gentle Mates Europe Rank #23 K4DAVRA Thomas Johner beyAz Beyazit Körpe nataNk Nathan Bocqueho Wailers Wailers Locart logaN Logan Corti (1-4, -16)
Here are the overall regular season results for VCT EMEA 2024:
-
Team Heretics
Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius (8-2, +61, 12 pts.)
-
FUT Esports
FUT Esports Europe Rank #10 MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak AtaKaptan Ata Tan cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qRaxs Doğukan Balaban (8-2, +76, 11 pts.)
-
FNATIC
FNATIC Europe Rank #2 Boaster Jake Howlett Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder (7-3, +46, 13 pts.)
-
Team Vitality
Team Vitality Europe Rank #9 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Kicks Kimmie Laasner runneR Emil Trajkovski ceNder Jokūbas Labutis Sayf Saif Jibraeel (6-4, -14, 6 pts.)
-
Natus Vincere
Natus Vincere Europe Rank #21 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky (5-5, -13, 5 pts.)
-
Karmine Corp
Karmine Corp Europe Rank #33 MAGNUM Martin Penkov tomaszy Tomás Machado N4RRATE Marshall Massey marteen Martin Pátek sh1n Ryad Ensaad (4-6, -5, 8 pts.)
-
BBL Esports
BBL Esports Europe Rank #40 Elite Efe Teber pAura Melih Karaduran Brave Eren Kasırga reazy Kaan Ürpek QutionerX Doğukan Dural (4-6, -1, eliminated from Champions contention)
-
Team Liquid
Team Liquid Europe Rank #24 nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy (4-6, -23, elim.)
-
Gentle Mates
Gentle Mates Europe Rank #23 K4DAVRA Thomas Johner beyAz Beyazit Körpe nataNk Nathan Bocqueho Wailers Wailers Locart logaN Logan Corti (3-7, -42, elim.)
-
GIANTX
GIANTX Europe Rank #20 purp0 Semyon Borchev Cloud Kirill Nehozhin (3-7, -58, elim.)
-
KOI
KOI Europe Rank #47 kamo Kamil Frąckowiak ShadoW Tobias Flodström grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko sheydos Bogdan Naumov (3-7, -27, elim.)
Due to the circuit point system, FNATIC have already qualified to Champions. They can still qualify through the knockout stage and earn a higher seed, but, should they not win any games in playoffs, no team can place outside the top three while earning more points than them.
Playoff preview
The VCT EMEA 2024 Stage 2 playoffs begin on July 15, with the first matches being single elimination games. Those two matches are between the third to sixth seeds from the regular season, starting with:
- Team Vitality vs. Natus Vincere - 12:00 EDT / 18:00 CEST
- FNATIC vs. Karmine Corp - 15:00 EDT / 21:00 CEST
The two winners in the knockout round will then face off against Heretics and FUT in a four-team double-elimination format.
- (Winner of Game 1) vs. Team Heretics - 12:00 EDT / 18:00 CEST
- (Winner of Game 2) vs. FUT Esports - 15:00 EDT / 21:00 CEST
Team Heretics and FUT Esports received a bye due to their performance. As the top two teams in the tournament, they will need to win a single match to qualify to Champions. Should either of them fail to win a match, they will need FNATIC to place in the top three to qualify via circuit points.
With eight championship points, Karmine Corp need to either reach the top three or for the three teams above them to qualify via playoffs.
Lastly, Team Vitality and Natus Vincere need to win two matches in order to make Champions. They will face off against each other in the single elimination portion of the bracket, meaning the winner will need another victory to make Champions, while the loser would be directly eliminated.
Coverage
Coverage for the 2024 EMEA playoffs will continue on VLR.gg. Pick ‘ems are open until July 15, 17:59 CEST, while a live match ticker and statistics will be updated throughout the remainder of the event.