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	Apeks Finished 13:11 GamerLegion	Match
15/12/2023	Complexity Finished 14:16 The MongolZ	Match
16/12/2023	Apeks Finished 13:6 The MongolZ	Match
16/12/2023	GamerLegion Finished 1:2 Complexity	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	Monte Finished 13:8 BESTIA	Match
15/12/2023	M80 Finished 8:13 Virtus.pro	Match
15/12/2023	Monte Finished 6:13 Virtus.pro	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	BESTIA 16:00 M80	Match
16/12/2023	The MongolZ 18:45 Complexity	Match
16/12/2023	Monte 21:20 BESTIA	Match