Two more CIS teams have confirmed their spots in the upcoming tournament.
Gambit Esports and Team Spirit have confirmed their participation in the PGL Stockholm Major, which begins on October 23. The two CIS CS:GO teams achieved this as a result of their recent successes at IEM Fall 2021: CIS, which guaranteed both of them a spot in the top five of the CIS’ Regional Major Rankings by the end of the competition.
Gambit and Spirit are the second and third teams to have confirmed their participation in this year’s CS:GO Major in Sweden’s capital. They join Natus Vincere, the only team to mathematically guarantee their position prior to the start of IEM Fall.
Spirit and Gambit are currently second and third in the CIS RMR, respectively. Given how the activity has progressed thus far, they cannot be hammered out of the top five rankings, thereby ensuring their places in the Major. Only Virtus Pro and Entropiq are capable of catching up.
But just because they know they’re heading to Stockholm doesn’t mean Gambit or Spirit must relax their defense. The fourth and fifth-place CIS teams will only progress to the Major’s Contender stage, which is the first part of the competition. The third seed will advance to the Challenger stage, while the first two teams from the region will advance to the Major stage. If either of these teams wants to begin their Major campaigns later in the season, they must compete for the best possible placement at IEM Fall.
Neither Spirit nor Gambit is outshining the competition. The former fell to Entropiq today, while the latter fell to VP, their direct rivals in the race for the region’s best spot at the Major. Both teams must try to turn things around tomorrow, the final day of the group stage, in order to secure a playoff spot at IEM Fall and a larger share of RMR points.
Spirit’s path to the next stage, however, will not be quick. They will face Na’Vi, the current Group A leader and the best CS:GO team on the planet as per the HLTV rankings. The Russian-Ukrainian team will almost definitely need a win because their opponents in the playoff race, Entropiq, will face a seemingly weaker squad, Nemiga. On the other hand, Gambit’s task does not appear to be as difficult because they will face Unique, the least effective competitor in Group B right now.
Tomorrow, at 8:45 a.m. CT, IEM Fall 2021: CIS returns. The final day of the group stage can be seen on ESL’s official streams on Twitch and YouTube.