The second week of EMEA Challengers competition has come to an end. FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks stunned Masters 3 winners Gambit in a week-defining match for Group A.

FunPlus Phoenix are now at the top of Group A, while BIG BIG Inactive sit alone at the bottom. The remaining four teams all hold a 1-1 record.

FunPlus Phoenix vs. Gambit Esports (FPX 2-1)

FunPlus Phoenix came storming out of the gate on Fracture, picking up eight rounds in a row to lead the first half 9-3. The defensive half looked promising on the defense as Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov's men reached map point. But, as has happened many times, FunPlus Phoenix were hit with the infamous "9-3 curse" and lost nine rounds in a row, which put the map in overtime.

Gambit Esports Gambit Esports Inactive Redgar Igor Vlasov Chronicle Timofey Khromov d3ffo Nikita Sudakov sheydos Bogdan Naumov nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin spent most of the overtime ahead and put up numerous map points. On round 31, Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky put in a 1v1 clutch that gave his team the map point and, eventually, the 17-15 win.

Bind was FunPlus Phoenix's pick but one they couldn't fully take advantage of. The first half came to a close with Gambit ahead 10-2, thanks to two 1v3 clutches from Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin and Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov. It didn't take long before Chronicle and co. closed out the map 13-6 in decisive fashion, trading map picks with their opponents.

Chronicle's Brimstone finished Bind with 284 ACS, more than Igor "Redgar" Vlasov's Skye and Nikita "d3ffo" Sudakov's Raze.

Icebox was left over as the decider map. FunPlus Phoenix were the first to garner an advantage by going 8-4 up, but Gambit bit back in their defensive half to secure match point at 12-9. FunPlus Phoenix then managed to take it to one more overtime, where they closed out the series with a 14-12 win.

"In the last rounds [of Icebox], they just found out they key to win against us. We didn't change our playstyle, our solo movement," Redgar said. "We lost to our lack of flexibility to opponent's decisions. I guess that's why we lost today on Icebox."

This loss was one of the greater upsets that could have happened in Group A, one that many expected Gambit and Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #22 nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak would dominate. Now, Gambit and Liquid are both sitting in the middle of the table.

"We lost because we made a lot of mistakes," Redgar said. "We should work much harder because there were a lot of winnable situations for us on Fracture and Icebox and we just threw it away. We're not in shape, I guess, right now."

"Next time, it won't be the same result," Redgar said. "We found out new mistakes, what should we improve, what should we change from our playstyle and games… we'll be much better next time. I hope we'll be much better next time because we're working everyday and we should improve everyday. Next game, we won't be the same Gambit we were today."

This is why you should train your lineups.

LDN UTD vs. BIG (LDN 2-1)

The second match of Group A pit LDN UTD LDN UTD Inactive feqew Lukas Petrauskas Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius Destrian Tomas Linikas MOLSI Michał Łącki against BIG. These teams faced off as recently as last month in the Challengers 1 open qualifier quarterfinals, a match BIG won 2-1 to reach the closed qualifier and, eventually, this main event.

"We don't feel that much pressure. Last week was rough for us and we didn't perform at 80% or 100%," Karel "Twisten" Ašenbrener said. "We were pretty confident going into the match but, in the back of our head, we had last week's praccs. It was kind of stressful last week, but we went into the match with clear heads."

This time around, LDN UTD came much more prepared. The Lithuanian team picked Haven to start off the series, a map they comfortably took 13-4. This crushing result was made possible by three clutches, as well as an abnormal 94% KAST from Michał "MOLSI" Łącki.

BIG's map of choice was Split, one they hold a 50% win rate on. The situation was looking grim for the German squad, as LDN UTD were up 10-4 by the second half. On round 15, Nico "Obnoks" Garczarczyk took down four and started a chain reaction of nine consecutive round wins which ultimately led to a 13-10 map win.

BIG fought hard on Split and forced the teams to play the decisive Breeze map, but were once again met with a challenge too tall to climb. By round nine, LDN UTD were just ahead by 5-4, at which point it all came crashing down for BIG. Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius carried his team to a 13-4 win on Breeze that sent BIG to the bottom of the table.

"It was the early rounds," Twisten said. "We win the first rounds and then we start losing rounds we were supposed to win. We should win that, they're really close rounds that get into your head."

"Unfortunately we didn't give our best," Twisten said. "That happens sometimes, it's life. We need to move on and focus on our next match."

You didn't have to do them like that, Ryan.

NAVI vs. Team Liquid (TL 2-1)

The final game of this week came down to Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #20 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky and Team Liquid. These two had only faced off once. In the Stage 3: EMEA Challengers Playoffs opening rounds, NAVI upset Liquid 2-1 on their EMEA debut.

Liquid's Haven composition was entirely new. It paired the four most recent Agents — Neon, Chamber, KAY/O, and Astra — with Skye.

"When Neon came out, it was a bit of a hit or miss. A lot of people were doubting the Agent, and we were too, to be fair. It's kind of hard to make that Agent work, you have to plan around that Agent a lot,” Dom "soulcas" Sulcas said in the broadcast interview. "We tried it on Haven a while ago and we started noticing some success because you can really catch people off by creating new timings that they'd never expect are possible. You can just sprint around corners, you turn into Usain Bolt. We stuck with that comp and I'm glad it prevailed."

NAVI picked Haven for the opener, a pick that seemed to go the wrong way. The Russian team started out 2-1 up, but a Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen 4K on round 4 tied the score. Liquid then managed to convert that into a lead that they never dropped, keeping NAVI at bay for the remainder of the map. After being tied up at 7-7, Liquid only dropped two more rounds on their way to a 13-9 win.

Liquid chose Bind for the second map of their series, a map they hadn't been seen on since Champions. A 6-0 lead at the start of the map showed promise, but that soon came crumbling down. NAVI won round seven and began to take over the game, eventually reaching 11-7. Liquid bit back in the final rounds of the game but it was too late, as NAVI tied the series up with a 13-10.

"I think we started brute-forcing our way into sites a bit too much, because our comp right now is a bit of a niche comp. It's not a comp you usually see too much," soulcas said. "We don't have a duelist that can make space."

soulcas went on to say this niche comp, as he calls it, caused his team to get blocked easily, which meant they'd have to work to manipulate rotations and bait out more utility.

The series was decided on Split, a map Liquid soon took control of. Jamppi's men chained the final four rounds of the first half for a 10-4 scoreline, but as the teams switched sides, so did the momentum. NAVI had newfound life in them and narrowed their disadvantage to 11-10. A successful A defense on round 22 gave Liquid match point, from where they quickly took a 13-10 win.

"I'm so exhausted, I'm so fatigued," soulcas said. "That game was crazy. It was so back and forth. We kind of started throwing the game towards the end, but I'm so glad we managed to pull through the last few rounds."

Looking ahead

By this time next week, only half of EMEA Challengers remains to be played. By the end of next week, the playoffs may begin to take shape.

EMEA Challengers Group A Week 3's games are: