This article is part of our CS:GO series.
The final day of The New Challenger stage is now in the books as nine teams will advance into The New Legends stage. Vega Squadron, FaZe Clan, Space Soldiers were the first three to make their mark into the next stage while mousesports, Quantum Bellator Fire, Natus Vincere and Team Liquid also advanced by the end of the day. Unfortunately, the North Americans of Misfits and Renegades fell, while AVANGAR went the extra mile but ultimately came up short in overtime against Team Liquid and will go home early. Here is how the last day of The New Challenger stage played out:
AVANGAR (2-2) vs. Misfits (1-3): Misfits kicked off the first match of the day with a 2-0 lead early. AVANGAR then bought in the third round and it paid off by picking up four straight to reset the Misfits economy. From there, Misfits didn't allow the lead to get away as the North Americans managed to create a five-round gap at the half. As the teams switched sides at the half, so did the momentum as AVANGAR shutdown the offense of Misfits to pick up 11 out of 14 rounds to take Cache 16-13, sending Misfits home empty-handed.
Vega Squadron (3-1) vs. Team Liquid (2-2): Liquid started things off on Mirage with an aggressive pistol round win, but Vega returned with a win the following round and added two more for good measure. After a lengthy technical timeout, Liquid began to crank out rounds before Vega secured a three-round lead at the half. Liquid finally rallied back and tied the game in Round 20 but the Russians fought back, which resulted in both teams trading rounds until Vega captured the 16-14 win on Mirage.
FaZe Clan (3-1) vs. Natus Vincere (2-2): Natus Vincere opened up Train with a defensive round win but FaZe returned to take away the anti-eco. The passive-aggressive offense deemed a worthy effect against Na'Vi as the CIS team struggled to hold off Finn "karrigan" Andersen as FaZe Clan locked up a dominating 12-3 first half. The thrashing continued in the second half as there was no room to breathe for Na'Vi, who could only muster up one more round as FaZe claimed their advancement into the next stage.
Space Soldiers (3-1) vs. mousesports (2-2): The Turks opened up the series with a smooth 3-0 lead but mouz contested early and traded rounds to tie it up early. Space Soldiers got out to a five-round lead at the half and got off to another dominating start on the defense and began to run away with the half, advancing to match point. While mouz managed to rally back to force overtime, Space Soldiers remained composed to pick up the 19-17 win to advance into the next stage.
mousesports (3-2) vs. Renegades (2-3): For the fourth time this qualifier mouz played on Mirage, only losing once to Space Soldiers. The German-based team got out to a smooth start, winning the pistol flawlessly which resulted in a perfect 5-0 start. It wasn't until Round 6 where Renegades finally got on the board, but the celebration didn't last long as mouz reset their economy and rode off with the half. The second half was all mouz as Renegades only had one round left in them as mouz advance with a 16-4 win on Mirage.
Quantum Bellator Fire (3-2) vs. AVANGAR (2-2): QB.Fire started smooth on the defensive side of Train while it took AVANGAR three rounds to finally get on the board. The buy round went according to plan for AVANGAR, who then managed to trade rounds to contest early for the tie. However, QB.Fire broke the AVANGAR economy and rode off with the half up by three. AVANGAR managed three rounds in the second half but it was all QB.Fire to control the offensive side and the economy of AVANGAR to enroute for a 16-6 win.
Natus Vincere (3-2) vs. Team Liquid (2-3): Natus Vincere opened up their decider match with a strong defensive stance in the first half, particularly thanks to Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev with a monster performance on the AWP. The CIS team took a massive 12-3 half as Liquid did contest in the second half but couldn't convert many rounds into wins during a tough 16-5 loss on Inferno, while Na'Vi advanced on.
With 100 Thieves dropping from the Major due to visa issues, ELEAGUE announced that one of the 2-3 teams will play in a series of decider matches to determine the ninth team to move on into The New Legends stage. Here is how the decider played out:
Renegades vs. AVANGAR: AVANGAR set the tone early by silencing Renegades with the pistol round, two anti-ecos and a smooth gun round to round out a 4-0 lead. Liquid began to turn things around with a buy round that got them back in the first half after breaking the AVANGAR economy to tie the game 6-6. AVANGAR easily stabilized and continued to control the economy of Renegades into the second half. The CIS squad finally reached the end to send Renegades packing with a 16-10 score on Mirage.
Team Liquid vs. AVANGAR: The North Americans picked up a quick 2-0 start but AVANGAR contested as the team began to trade rounds. Those rounds went back and forth in the early stages of the first half but failed retakes from Liquid allowed AVANGAR to take the first half by three. It was all AVANGAR in the start of the second half, but a handful of mishaps from both sides resulted in overtime. The extra rounds were convincingly won by Liquid who blanked AVANGAR to advance, sending the CIS team home after a 19-15 win on Mirage.
With the New Challengers now determined, the players will have a three-day break before getting back in the action in Atlanta again on Friday as The New Legends will kick off at 10:00 a.m. ET.
