Sinners impressed two of the group’s favorites, and Astralis withstood matches against underdogs, so Group B at IEM Fall is starting to take shape.
Sinners and Astralis are now tied for first place in Group B at IEM Fall after successes in the second round, which saw the Czech team defeat group favorites Heroic on Vertigo and Emil “Magisk” Reif and company flee a remarkably close battle against Movistar Riders on Inferno.
In the meantime, Complexity won their first game against Endpoint in the same group, and they are now tied for third place in the round robin at 1-1 after a poor start on day one with a narrow loss to Sinners.
With victories over two of Group B’s three highest-ranked teams, Tomá “oskar” astn’s team could be on track for an all-important playoffs finish in their first Regional Major Ranking tournament appearance. Sinners, who currently have no points in the European standings, are aiming for a top-two finish in the group to improve their likelihood of qualifying for the PGL Stockholm Major.
They will encounter Endpoint and Movistar Riders next in games where the Czechs will be prioritized, while their final round robin match will be against Astralis, who, like them, currently has a 2-0 record but has yet to play a tougher set of opponents in compatriots Heroic and Complexity.
The Danes are competing in the competitions without their primary in-game leader, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, and have appeared shaky at times but in command in their matches against the group underdogs.
Astralis’ most recent match against the Spanish Movistar Riders lineup wasn’t particularly clean, with the 42nd-ranked team taking the personal favourites nearly the entire distance, but Danny “zonic” Srensen’s men held on and won the tight Inferno affair 16-13.
The following are the Group B standings after each team has played two of the five matches so far: