Envy, Rugratz through to Americas Minor NA closed qualifier

Envy and Rugratz have advanced to the North America closed qualifier for the Americas Minor after emerging victorious from the first open bracket.

With their new imports of Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller and Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın in tow, the revamped Envy roster made short work of a majority of their opponents in the open qualifier bracket, with the MDL side of Asuna's Anime Aimers being the only team that was able to attain double-digit rounds on a single map.

Notably, MICHU at one point boasted a 24-0 K-D in one of Envy's earlier matchups, while the team's semi-final efforts against Faint were helmed by strong showings from Kaleb "⁠moose⁠" Jayne and Calyx to ensure the team's qualification to the closed stage.

Envy swiftly pushed their way through the bracket in their roster debut

Rugratz had an even easier time of things on the opposite side of the bracket, not allowing any of their opponents to garner more than six rounds on a single map. Even Rugratz's semi-final matchup against the re-formed Infinity roster proved to be of little contest for Alexander "⁠zanz⁠" Diaz's troops, with 16-year-old Nathan "⁠leaf⁠" Orf leading the charge in mustering 13-2 and 14-1 halftime leads on Inferno and Nuke to help his team swiftly close out the series.

The two teams have earned spots in the North America closed qualifier for the Americas Minor, which will run from March 6-8 with two spots at the offline event on offer. The team list currently looks as follows:

Cloud9
Gen.G
eUnited
Triumph
Envy
NA qualifier #2
NA qualifier #3
NA qualifier #4

FURIA
Chaos
Riot Squad
New Identity
Rugratz
NA qualifier #2
NA qualifier #3
NA qualifier #4

The qualifying process for the Americas Minor will continue on Tuesday with the second open bracket. Teams can sign up for the remaining qualifiers by clicking the links below:

Open Qualifier #2 (February 4-5) - Register
Open Qualifier #3 (February 8-9) - Register
Open Qualifier #4 (February 12-13) - Register