- Both teams secure spots for the event following the second open qualifiers
- It was not an easy journey for both squads
- NiP and GODSENT will join six other teams in the event, which will be held this weekend
Grabbing the last chance to get into the IEM Dallas Europe closed qualifiers, Ninjas in Pyjamas and GODSENT become the last two teams to earn a spot in the tournament.
Closed Qualifier Berths Have Been Filled
It was a tough slog for some teams, but the participants for the upcoming IEM Dallas closed qualifier have finally been decided. GODSENT and Ninjas in Pyjamas are two of those teams who had a tough time in the qualification events, being forced to go to the last-chance opportunity in the second open qualifier.
NiP were the first of the two teams to earn a spot in the coveted CS:GO tournament after going past the likes of ECSTATIC, HEET, and Iron Branch, before finally defeating Monte 2-0 to secure a berth. The final match was won in no small part thanks to Daniil “headtr1ck” Valitov, who posted over 100 ADR and a 1.47 rating. The match against Monte regains NiP their honor after losing 13-16 to 9 Pandas in the quarter-finals of the first open qualifier.
Meanwhile., GODSENT had a more difficult time, having barely scrapped past Biskvitki Zakuska and 500 in the round of 16 and quarter-finals. EPIC DUDES also posed quite a challenge for the all-Swedish team, the match stretching to the full three maps. With a rating of 1.40 and 99.8 ADR, 27-year-old William “draken” Sundin emerged as the clear MVP for GODSENT in that match.
Plenty of big names did not make it to the closed qualifiers. One of them is BIG, failed in two attempts, being bested by HEET in the first qualifier and then disappointingly by a mix team in the next. Sprout also flopped twice, losing to Iron Branch in the first instance and then IKLA in the second.
Now that both open qualifiers have finished, NiP and GODSENT join the other six teams, of which four, Cloud9, fnatic, Spirit, and OG, have received direct invites. The other two, Astralis and sYnck, earned a spot through the first open qualifier, with the latter team surprising everybody. the Estonian squad significantly outperformed their No. 201 ranking at the time by defeating the likes of Tricked to secure a berth in the closed qualifier.
IEM Dallas Europe closed qualifier will take place this weekend, March 31-April 3.
