Biggest stories and top plays from day 5 of Paris Major qualifiers

Check out what happened in Copenhagen on the first day of Europe RMR B.

9INE and Monte are the flavors of the day

"Expect the unexpected." As anyone could have predicted, the BO1 day of EU RMR B brought a few upset results. The action started with HEROIC and Cloud9 staving off underdogs in the initial pair of matches, but things changed quickly. "Online heroes" Aurora and Monte picked up wins, and 9INE joined them shortly with a 16-14 over G2 on Nuke.

The round 2 draws didn't give us any egregious matchups, but 9INE and Monte nonetheless managed repeat performances, picking up wins over BIG and Cloud9 respectively to enter the 2-0 pool and get one win away from the Major.

The two challengers have another big step to make, though, as BO3s against Vitality and HEROIC stand between them and a ticket to Paris. It is worth noting Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck's heroics (pun intended), as last year's Anchor of the Year nominee went above and beyond his role to secure the best Danish team a perfect start.

On the other hand, a few big names are facing elimination on day 2. ENCE have looked a shadow of their Pro League selves and went down 0-2, but are lucky enough to draw iNation in the elimination game and should be confident in a bounce back. The other elimination game, however, will bring fireworks as one of Spirit and Astralis will leave the tournament without a single win.

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EU RMR B: Day one as it happened

Player of the day

Two players stood out above the rest, sjuush and Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas, and while the Dane posted a slightly higher rating and had a few outstanding rounds, we gave the nod to Monte's BOROS as the Player of the day due to the higher level of opposition the 18-year-old had to face

The Jordanian pushed Monte to the brink of qualification by topping the scoreboards in upsets over top 10 squads ENCE and Cloud9, making his exploits more impressive than what sjuush managed against 500 and Aurora.

Coverage of the day

Gallery

Europe RMR B - Day 1

Interviews

SHiPZ on 9INE and Monte: "I think we're at that level"
sdy: "We told BOROS: 'nafany plays con, you have two legs, go win'"
nawrot: "It feels good to beat G2 on their best map"
SELLTER: "It's my first European LAN and things are amazing"

Highlights of the day