Apeks, Virtus.pro advance to ESL Challenger Atlanta playoffs
GamerLegion were eliminated on the first day of competition.

Day one of ESL Challenger Atlanta has concluded with Apeks and Virtus.pro advancing to the single-elimination playoffs. Conversely, GamerLegion became the first eliminated team from the tournament after back-to-back losses in the group stage.
The biggest shock of the first day came in the Group A opening match between Complexity and The MongolZ, where the Mongolian side prevailed in a close-fought 16-14 victory. The North American side struggled to get going before a seven-round streak towards the end of the map gave them four match points, but they couldn't close out the map and thus dropped down to the elimination match.
The result meant The MongolZ moved on to face Apeks for a playoff spot, with Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski and company previously edging past a Sebastian "volt" Maloș-less GamerLegion in their opener. The European combine kept up their good form and comfortably dispatched The MongolZ on Anubis to secure their playoff spot.
The elimination match between GamerLegion and Complexity ended the Group A action, and the opening loss seemed to have angered Complexity. The No. 5 team in the world started the series with a dominant 13-2 victory on Vertigo, where Johnny "JT" Theodosiou put up an incredible 2.77 rating, before GamerLegion stole away Nuke to force out a decider. It was once again one-way traffic, however, as Complexity secured another dominant 13-2 victory to stay alive in the tournament.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023 | ||
| 15/12/2023 |
Finished
13:11 |
Match |
| 15/12/2023 |
Finished
14:16 |
Match |
| 16/12/2023 |
Finished
13:6 |
Match |
| 16/12/2023 |
Finished
1:2 |
Match |
In Group B, the action began with Monte and Virtus.pro securing 13-8 victories against BESTIA and M80.
Both Americas squads came into the event without their full lineup because of visa issues, though, as BESTIA are playing with Roberto "reversive" Themtham and Nicolas "NikoM" Miozzi in place of Luciano "luchov" Herrera and Tomas "tomaszin" Corna, while M80 are using coach Rory "dephh" Jackson instead of Marcus "maNkz" Kjeldsen.
Two of the pre-tournament favorites then met each other for a playoff spot in the winners' match, where Virtus.pro demolished Monte with a 13-6 scoreline to avenge their ESL Challenger Jonkoping semi-final loss.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023 | ||
| 15/12/2023 |
Finished
13:8 |
Match |
| 15/12/2023 |
Finished
8:13 |
Match |
| 15/12/2023 |
Finished
6:13 |
Match |
The second day of competition will play host to three matchups. An elimination game between BESTIA and M80 will start the action at 16:00 , followed by two decider matches. The schedule can be found below:
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023 | ||
| 16/12/2023 |
16:00
|
Match |
| 16/12/2023 |
18:45
|
Match |
| 16/12/2023 |
21:20
|
Match |
Roberto 'reversive' Themtham

ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023


















Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Marcus 'maNkz' Kjeldsen
Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich
Michael 'Swisher' Schmid

Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad
Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson
Aleksandar 'CacaNito' Kjulukoski


Szymon 'kRaSnaL' Mrozek


Dastan 'dastan' Akbayev
Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus

bebrorast
cocoJJ4mb0
XigNIsLoveXigNIsLife
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