ESL Impact League Season 1 Finals reaches playoffs

After a busy two days, four teams remain alive in Dallas.

Taking place on LAN as a part of the DreamHack Dallas festival, the group stage for the inaugural season of the ESL Impact League has completed, determining the four teams moving on to the playoffs of the Finals. Historical favorites CLG Red and Nigma Galaxy both advanced in first place from their groups, but not without some close calls.

Both squads went to overtime in the winners' match, but were able to come out on top in the end. Taking up the remaining two playoffs spots were the newly-signed BIG EQUIPA as well as FURIA fe, who took down Black Dragons fe and Please Send Help, respectively, to advance.

ANa carried Nigma Galaxy to victory over FURIA fe

While the Oceanic representation was immediately outclassed by the other teams in Group A, Black Dragons fe surprised many by taking down BIG EQUIPA in the best-of-one initial match. However, once they met again in the decider game, the European side took their revenge and advanced to the playoffs after two close maps.

Group B saw an even larger parity gap as both Nigma Galaxy and FURIA fe both dominated their initial matches, with South African side ATK fe not managing a single round against the European powerhouse. North American representatives Please Send Help put up more of a fight in the deciding match than they had in their initial game, but ultimately still fell to the Brazilians in FURIA fe.

The playoff matches are set to kick off on Sunday at the same time as the IEM Dallas grand final. Here is the full bracket schedule:

18:00 - Nigma Galaxy vs. BIG EQUIPA | Bo3
21:00 - CLG Red vs. FURIA fe | Bo3

01:00 - Grand final | Bo3

Black Dragons fe #224 Amanda 'dinha' GomezLara 'goddess' BaceiredoJulia 'julih' GomesNataly 'nani' do Nascimento CavalcanteGiovanna 'yungher' Yungh Mataveli Please Send Help #241 Charissa 'Senna' HoangJessica 'jesscas' NgoAnna 'garden' GutierrezMarissa 'madss' DastaKiki 'PiggyKiki' Long ATK fe BIG EQUIPA Aida 'Aidy' GarciaMarta 'D7' AsensioAna 'Zana' QueirozJennifer 'JennyR' Irina Brea RodriguezAida 'Aida' Simão FURIA fe #186 Olga 'Olga' RodriguesGabriela 'GaBi' MaldonadoIzabella 'izaa' GalleKarina 'kaahSENSEI' TakahashiMariana 'mari' Preste Nigma Galaxy #176 Ksenia 'vilga' KluenkovaAna 'ANa' DumbravăVictoria 'tory' KazievaAlexandra 'twenty3' TimoninaKatarína 'Kat' Vašková CLG Red #173 Diane 'di^' TranMounira 'GooseBreeder' DobieEmma 'Emy' ChoeJuliana 'Juli' TosicKelsie 'uhKelsie' Click Time is adjusted to your selected timezone