Outsiders qualify for PGL Major, NAVI secure final Legends spot

Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali's squad overcame SAW in a three-map nailbiter to seal their place in the upcoming Major.

Natus Vincere take the final Legends stage spot on offer after bringing down FORZE in their deciding series, 2-0. The Russian-Ukrainian side join HEROIC, BIG, and FaZe as the teams that will skip the Challengers stage in the upcoming PGL Major Antwerp.

Outsiders emerged victorious over SAW in the final elimination series of the Europe Regional Major Rankings A, where they were able to cement their place at the Major after three intense maps against Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes' men, who were milliseconds away from a place in Antwerp.

SAW began their elimination series with a a 5-0 score thanks to a strong opening performance on the CT side. Outsiders were then able to start breaking through their opponents' defense as the half dragged on and entered the switch with six rounds on the board.

The second half was more evenly-matched between the two, as Outsiders exchanged scoring runs with SAW until Jame's squad were able to pull ahead and round off a successful comeback to take Dust2, 16-14.

Ancient saw early dominance from Outsiders, whose defense shut down the MUTiRiS-led lineup's attacks as the latter struggled to find their footing and trailed as much as 2-8. In the closing part of the first half, SAW were able to catch up and win four of the last five rounds to bring them within three of their opponents by halftime. Coming out of the break, Tiago "⁠JUST⁠" Moura and Ricardo "⁠roman⁠" Oliveira drove their team to victory after a nearly flawless CT side, as they evened up the series and forced a third map.

It was now or never for both teams on Inferno, as the map opened with SAW taking a 5-2 lead early. Outsiders, however, were able to pull off important clutches and even up the score once again. SAW went on an unbelievable run of form, winning eight out of the next ten rounds to amass a 13-7 advantage over Outsiders.

Despite being at a deficit, Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev's crew were unrelenting in their efforts to keep their Major hopes alive, as they mounted a sensational comeback and levelled the score once again, standing at 14-14.

Both SAW and Outsiders pushed each other to the very final round of regulation, where a last-second defuse from Jame clinched the 15th round for his team and forced OT. In the end, only one was needed as Outsiders completed their comeback and brought the series and event to a close with an exhilarating 19-16 Inferno victory.

Inferno was the opening map of the fourth place decider between FORZE and Natus Vincere, which saw an extremely close first period between the two with the former holding a single round advantage over their Russian-Ukrainian rivals at halftime, up 8-7. After the swap, Natus Vincere played an almost perfect T side, completely overwhelming FORZE's defense as Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev brought his team to a 16-10 victory to give them a 1-0 series lead.

Natus Vincere got off to a brilliant start on Mirage as the team cruised to an 8-2 score line early on. Aleksandr "⁠shalfey⁠" Marenov's exceptional fragging was the difference-maker for his side as they chipped off Natus Vincere's lead and found themselves right back into the game after a successful second pistol round brought the score level at 8-8. It was all Natus Vincere from there, however, as Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov's 24 kills helped his team secure eight consecutive rounds to lock in their Legends stage spot as they took Mirage, 16-8.

The final Swiss standings of the Europe RMR A are as follows: