Fantasy: 5 players to consider for IEM Fall Europe playoffs

With the Fantasy game open for action, we bring you a list of five players to pay attention to after good group stage showings.

The IEM Fall 2021 playoffs will take place on October 7-10, with eight teams competing in a single-elimination bracket for the title of the IEM Fall champions - as well as crucial Regional Major Rankings points.

It is important to note that the Fantasy game will only feature matches in the main bracket, not those that will be used to decide the third, 5th-8th, and 9th-12th place.

With the format in mind, it is probably best to look past players such as Deyvid "⁠h4rn⁠" Benchev and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard, who put up star performances so far but are unlikely to make a deep run against big names like Astralis and Vitality. Instead, the focus is on affordable players from the established squads, who should pull through in the BO3 playoffs.

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Therefore, our five players to consider start with a duo that posted 1.40+ ratings in the group stage: G2's Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač and Ninjas in Pyjamas's Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz. Both of them are reasonably priced at $213,000 and $211,000 and don't require big sacrifices in other parts of the squad.

device's teammate Linus "⁠LNZ⁠" Holtäng also makes the list thanks to 1.20 group stage rating and a budget price of $187,000, while Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon fit in the middle of the price range. Both of them have a lot of LAN experience, which will come in handy in bracket play, and have been outstanding for their teams' efforts so far.

(Player: rating in group stage, price)

huNter-: 1.49, $213,000
device: 1.45, $211,000
Magisk: 1.20, $204,000
shox: 1.23, $199,000
LNZ: 1.20, $187,000

These five suggestions aren't meant to be used as a lineup example, as they are slightly too expensive to be put together in the Fantasy game, but offer interesting options users can build their teams around.

The IEM Fall 2021 EU playoffs Fantasy HLTV x BitSkins league offers the following prizes for the event:

1. Classic Knife | Blue Steel (Field-Tested)
2. AK-47 | Vulcan (Field-Tested)
3. Desert Eagle | Cobalt Disruption (Field-Tested)

Participants of the Fantasy game are required to abide by the Fantasy ruleset if they want to win the available prizes. Winners of the official HLTV x BitSkins league will be contacted via the email provided in their HLTV account and must reply within one month to be eligible to receive any prize.