After six long match weeks, Stage 1: EMEA Challengers has finally concluded. This week, three teams from Group A qualified for playoffs, while the seedings for Group B were finalized.

The extraordinary sixth week of the EMEA VCT hosted the five final games of the regular stage, which had been delayed in late February and early March, on Wednesday through to Friday.

FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks , M3 Champions M3 Champions Inactive Jady Yaroslav Nikolaev purp0 Semyon Borchev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Redgar Igor Vlasov , and Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #18 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Enzo Enzo Mestari Mistic James Orfila Keiko Georgio Sanassy reached the playoffs from Group A, while FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 Leo Leo Jannesson Derke Nikita Sirmitev Boaster Jake Howlett Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder locked in Group B's first place with their victory against Guild Esports Guild Esports Inactive , which placed G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive in second and Guild Esports Guild Esports Inactive in third.

Wednesday

The first day of Week 6 saw the return of Gambit, currently playing under M3 Champions. Their first of three matches across three days was against NAVI, with both teams holding a 2-1 record entering the final stretch of league play.

NAVI secured the pistol round on their Ascent pick, but weren't able to take advantage of it. M3 Champions immediately replied back and rocketed up to a 7-1 scoreline. NAVI never managed to get back into the map, dropping their map pick by 13-5.

Usually seen on Cypher, Viper, or Killjoy, Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin flexed his muscles in his sixth time playing Astra. The sentinel main ended the first map with 83% KAST, averaging 323 ACS across the 18 played rounds.

nAts returned to Viper for Breeze, a map M3 Champions started off on the wrong foot. They secured the first two rounds, but NAVI replied with eight points of their own. Down 8-3, Igor "Redgar" Vlasov led his team on a monstrous comeback. NAVI were only able to find one more point across the game's final eleven rounds. M3 Champions found their first win on the week with a 13-9 on Breeze.

For BIG to escape the VCT Promotion tournament, M3 Champions would have to lose all of their games. As such, this 2-0 win meant that BIG were indirectly put into relegation and were unable to secure maintenance.

Redgar was on the fire throughout Week 6.

The second game of the day would decide Group B's playoffs seeding. A Fnatic win would place them in first place and Guild in third, with G2 standing in second. A Guild win would place them in first, followed by Fnatic and G2.

The game was an all-out brawl between the two top squads of EMEA's Group B. On Haven, Fnatic found an early 5-1 lead, but Guild chained the next twelve rounds together, finding a scary 13-5 win on their opponents' map pick.

Fnatic kept their heads cool for Bind and Split, winning both maps with a 13-5 scoreline that sealed Guild's fate. Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev led the way for Fnatic's comeback, winning all but one of his duels and ending the series with a 1.92 KDA.

Fnatic and great post-game celebrations. Name a better duo.

Thursday

The only match of the second day was important only for M3 Champions. The Russian squad would need this win and one more to reach the playoffs.

As such, it came as no surprise as M3 Champions put eleven straight rounds on the board, while the Germans only managed one. BIG only managed to find three more rounds in the second half, as the map came to a close 13-4.

On Breeze, BIG were able to put up a greater fight across the whole map. M3 Champions proved themselves the stronger squad once again, scoring four rounds in the final stages of the game. A 13-8 win sealed the series and gave M3 Champions their second series of the week.

Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov stood out from the crowd, entering both maps with Chamber. Despite playing a sentinel, the Russian player ended his second match with 322 ACS and a 2.7 KDA, winning all of his duels alongside Nikita "d3ffo" Sudakov.

With that win, M3 Champions placed themselves ever closer to playoffs. To guarantee safe passage through to the playoffs, one more victory against LDN UTD was still required.

d3ffo survived being stunned and shot mid-air... all to die to Redgar.

The second match of the day was postponed midway through due to technical issues. In the first map, NAVI managed to stop a comeback from FunPlus Phoenix on Ascent, narrowly beating out d00mbr0s' men 13-11. The second map, Breeze, was stopped with FunPlus Phoenix 6-1 up.

Friday

The final day of Week 6 resumed with NAVI and FunPlus Phoenix's game, with the latter maintaining their five-round lead. FPX furthered that lead to 10-2, winning the map soon after 13-6.

WIth FunPlus Phoenix's comeback in full swing, the decision was headed to Icebox. No team managed to find a clear advantage in the first half, as the two squads came out of it tied at 6-6. On the defensive side, despite a strong start from NAVI that placed them at 10-7, FunPlus Phoenix bounced back to a 13-11 win that left them with a 4-1 record. From hereon out, all the team could do was watch.

The final game of VCT EMEA's regular season was fought between M3 Champions and LDN UTD. Both teams were still in the running for playoffs, but a win was crucial for both teams to make it through.

M3 Champions didn't hesitate on Ascent and immediately jumped to a 5-0 lead. LDN UTD were able to recoup three rounds to place themselves at 8-3. The Lithuanian squad only managed to piece together two more rounds before the first map ended 13-5, with M3 Champions placing themselves on the brink of playoffs. On Breeze, LDN UTD weren't able to put up a fight and dropped the second map 13-1.

With that win, M3 Champions guaranteed their slot in the playoffs, second only to FunPlus Phoenix as they won the tiebreaker.

Redgar: Great brain, great aim.

Looking ahead

With the regular season of the EMEA VCT now over, playoffs approach. Teams will have just four days to practice for their upcoming games, as the final stage of the event begins on March 22.

The playoffs will be played in a seeded six-team double elimination bracket, with the first-place teams getting a BYE in the first round.

The EMEA VCT playoffs opening games are: