The final leg of regional competition has arrived in EMEA, as eight teams gather in the EMEA LCQ to fight for the region's final Champions slot.

Today, OG LDN UTD OG LDN UTD Inactive and M3 Champions M3 Champions Inactive Jady Yaroslav Nikolaev purp0 Semyon Borchev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Redgar Igor Vlasov opened up the eight-team double-elimination playoffs bracket with victories over G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive and Acend Acend Europe Rank #9 ALIVE Gilad Hakim musashi Alessio Xhaferi Br0die Jack Emmott baddyG Kamil Graniczka chiwa Egor Stepanyuk Vuubit Roope Eilola , respectively.

The EMEA LCQ will continue over the course of the next week.

G2 Esports vs. OG LDN UTD (OGLU 2-0)

The quarterfinal between G2 and OGLU was only the third confrontation between the two squads. Their two previous games were a year apart from each other, with OGLU finding a 2-1 win in the latter match in Stage 2's Week 3.

OGLU chose Haven to kick off the series, a map they've never shied away from playing. MOLSI opened with a 3K and an ace, setting the stage for what was a catastrophic map for G2. Two of the four rounds they took in the first half were marked by 4Ks from AvovA and hoody . In the second half, highlight plays from MOLSI and feqew rounded out the map 13-5.

MOLSI had a rager of a game, with six multikills and a 1v1 clutch awarding him 367 ACS and 217 ADR, across 23 kills. On the other side of the server, Meddo was the only G2 player to not end with a negative KD, taking down 15 players for 238 ACS.

nukkye 's playing Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots with OGLU.

For the second map, G2 picked Ascent, despite only winning two out of their last seven games. The latest of those losses was against OGLU, indicating G2 might have been working on the map since Stage 2's group stage.

Despite that, G2's loss streak continued. feqew, who aced on the second round, popped off on Ascent with 19 kills in the first half alone. His nine multikills, when paired with MOLSI's five, made way for a crushing 13-6 defeat that sent G2 straight to the lower bracket. Overall, feqew dominated G2 on Ascent, nearly reaching 400 ACS and dropping 26 frags.

With G2 now one loss away from elimination, they have no margin for error. On Tuesday, August 9, they'll play Acend in the first of potentially four elimination matches.

Wait, where'd his Showstopper go?

M3 Champions vs. Acend (M3C 2-1)

The second quarterfinal of the day was a Champions rematch. In December, M3 Champions and Acend were the two best teams in the world. Since then, though, they've both fallen off and have failed to attend international events. The EMEA LCQ is their shot at redemption and, for Acend, title defense.

M3 Champions came bursting out of the gate, with a quick 6-0 scoreline dominated by four strong rounds from nAts . Acend had taken a timeout on round five, but needed a 1v1 from MONSTEERR to finally get on the board. 3Ks from starxo and vakk further narrowed the gap to 6-4, until Acend managed to outright tie the half 6-6.

Acend dominated the second half of the game, repeatedly stonewalling M3C's attacks by way of 3Ks from L1NK and vakk. The world champions reached map point while only dropping a round. M3C managed to recoup three rounds and reduce the gap to just 12-9, at which point Acend won the map 13-9.

Despite only downing 7 opponents in the first half, vakk ended up carrying his team to the win with 15 defending frags. On Breach, he won all but one of his head-to-head duels, finishing the map with a +12 differential and 86% KAST. Chronicle was also one of the best in the server, with 262 ACS and 180 ADR across five opening kills making him M3C's best player.

Spider-starxo. Does whatever a starxo can.

M3 Champions moved the match to Breeze, a map they've proven themselves strong on. Since Masters Berlin, M3C have only lost Breeze once in a total of 13 played games — eight this year. Acend, conversely, haven't won on Breeze in the four times they've played it this year, previously losing it to M3C in the Champions grand final.

L1NK and vakk were once again instrumental for Acend, scoring two 3Ks that gave their team an early 5-2 lead. Three rounds down, M3 Champions took a timeout and managed to overtake Acend, rounding out the half with a 7-5 lead through rounds built on solid teamwork.

A 3K from Chronicle gave M3C the second pistol to open up their defending half, but MONSTEERR quickly replied with three of his own that allowed Acend to narrow the scoreline to just 8-7. An all-out brawl ensued, as M3C kept trying to keep Acend at bay. The dust only settled thanks to a triple from Chronicle that put M3 Champions on map point, from where they took the 13-10 win that triggered the decider.

Chronicle and sheydos were the only players on the server to secure over 200 ACS and 140 ADR, also being one of the three to finish Breeze with a positive KD alongside nAts. Combined, they also drew first blood eight times.

That's some unlucky timing for L1NK.

Finally, the series moved to Fracture. Acend have only been on this map three times in their history, winning only once, while M3C have opted to play it 12 times and have won half as many times.

Although Acend had a controlling start to their attacking half, going 3-1 up, M3 Champions quickly took hold of the first half of the game. A 3K from nAts triggered a seven-round streak that put M3C up by 8-4. Acend were completely shut down in the second half, as M3C quickly ran to match point at 12-4. They gave up just two rounds, sealing the series with a 13-6 win on Fracture.

nAts had a flawless match on Chamber, his fifth-ever showing on the French Agent. He killed 32 players and racked up 434 ACS, as well as a 40% headshot ratio and 250 ADR. He also had the second-highest KAST in the server, at 89%, opening up four rounds for his team.

Once world champions, Acend are now one slip-up away from losing their chance at a title defense. They'll return to the servers on August 9, to play the first round of the lower bracket against G2.

nAts had Acend on lockdown.

Looking Ahead

The second round of the EMEA LCQ quarterfinals is next up on the docket. Tomorrow will be marked by the debut of dimasick and eMIL under Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #15 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Enzo Enzo Mestari Mistic James Orfila Keiko Georgio Sanassy 's colors, as well as Yacine 's return to Guild Esports Guild Esports Inactive .

Tomorrow's games are: