Copa Elite Six Roundup: Liquid and Furia Join NiP And oNe, NiP Crowned Champions

To know what happened in the group stage, check our roundup. 

After the conclusion of the group stages, it was time for the playoffs. Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team oNe were waiting in the semi-finals, as both rosters had already confirmed their presence at the Mexico City Six Major.

The two last LATAM spots at the competition would then be decided between FURIA Esports, Black Dragons, Team Liquid, and Fenix Esports. 

Keep on reading to find out what happened in the playoffs of the Copa Elite Six this weekend.

Day 1: FURIA Beats BD, Liquid Kills Mexican Hopes

Day 1 of the Copa Elite Six playoffs saw FURIA Esports beating Black Dragons, while Team Liquid defeated Fenix Esports. Both games ended in 2-0 results.

The match between the two Brazilian teams was a close series in terms of rounds, but it was FURIA who always controlled the pace of the match.

We saw a dominant FURIA on Chalet, but their inability to close out rounds caused them some trouble. Winning three rounds on defense eventually proved to be pivotal in taking the map.

Although BD enjoyed a great start on Kafe, FURIA were back in the lead after winning three attacking rounds, mainly thanks to seven kills from Thiago “Lenda” Torres. With a 3-3 on the scoreboard and now on defense, FURIA closed the series in strong fashion.

The second game of the day saw Team Liquid smash Fenix Esports after the latter had stunned FaZe Clan. Though the Mexicans have improved, it was clear there is still a lot of pending work in order to see a Mexican team on an international stage.

Although Fenix shined in some stages of the game, the Mexican side saw how precious rounds slipped through their fingers due to a lack of information, coordination, and a poorusage of time.

That is a death sentence against a team like Liquid. The Brazilians ended up dominating the game, as they won Villa and Oregon by 7-3 score and killed hometown hopes of a Mexican team at the Major.

Liquid’s duo of Thiago “xS3xyCake” Reis and Luccas “Paluh” Molina were the best players of the series as they both obtained more than 20 kills and ratings of 1.74 and 1.27, respectively.

Day 2: NiP Wins SI Grand Final Replay on Course to Copa Victory

The final day of competition saw the Six Invitational 2021 champions winning another title, this time in their home region. After beating Team Liquid and Team oNe by 2-1 scorelines, the Ninjas showed once again why they are the current best team in the world.

However, they did not have an easy time. Team Liquid had a great start to the series as they won on Oregon by 8-7. André “NESKWGA” Oliveira went berserk as he registered 18 kills, eight more than any NiP player.

With no more room for mistakes, NiP did not hesitate and smashed their opponents with a 7-4 win on Clubhouse and a 7-3 win on Coastline. 

Meanwhile, Team oNe and FURIA faced each other to see who would join NiP in the Grand Final. The series was close, with both sides taking two comfortable wins on Map 1 and 2, while the third was evenly-matched.

Team oNe won 7-2 on Oregon after a brilliant game from Karl “Alem4o” Zarth. The Brazilian player ended up with 19 kills just in the first map; an impressive number considering that there were just nine rounds played.

Kafe had Team oNe all over the place, as FURIA finished the first half with 5-1 on the scoreboard. On attack, FURIA looked as strong as they did against Black Dragons, and then won the map by 7-1.

Coastline was the decider. With Team oNe 5-3 ahead, it looked like the game was over for FURIA. However, Team oNe conceded the following three rounds, which put FURIA in match-point.

Nevertheless, Team oNe survived to the 12th round and successfully denied FURIA’s comeback momentum, winning the map 8-6 and the series 2-1.

The Grand Final saw a very comfortable and solid Ninjas in Pyjamas defeating Team oNe, taking three rounds on the attack before completing the win with a 4-0 defense.

Things looked the same in Oregon, as Team oNe only scored one attacking round, but turned things around in stunning fashion by taking six defenses out of six and winning Map 2 by a 7-5 margin.

With Coastline as the decider, NiP looked very comfortable and secure of themselves as they even tried to gain advantage from three-player simultaneous spawn peeks. After winning four of their defences, a strong 3-1 attacking half then gave them the map win 7-3 and the series 2-1.

Led by a magnificent Gabriel “pino” Fernandes, the Ninjas were thus crowned as the winners of the Copa Elite Six Stage 2 -- a victory that would have whet their appetite for a second international title on the trot next month in Mexico.

Prize Pool And SI Points Distribution

With the end of the second edition of the Copa Elite Six, we now know who will be the LATAM representatives at the Mexico City Six Major.

Aside from that, we also know how the prize pool and the SI Points will be distributed. These will be shared as it follows:

• Ninjas in Pyjamas: US$10,000 & 225 SI Points and Six Major seeding.
• Team oNe: US$5,000 & 225 SI Points and Six Major seeding.
• Team Liquid: US$3,500 & 225 SI Points and Six Major seeding.
• FURIA Esports: US$3,500 & 225 SI Points and Six Major seeding.
• Fenix Esports: US$2,500 & 225 SI Points.
• Black Dragons: US$2,500 & 180 SI Points.
• FaZe Clan: US$2,000 & 140 SI Points.
•  Malvinas Gaming: US$2,000 & 115 SI Points.
•  9z Team &  Atheris Esports: US$2,000

With these results, Team Liquid are first in the Global Standings with 785 SI Points. Unless things go completely wrong for them, they should thus be an almost-confirmed team to compete at the Six Invitational 2022, with a title win at the Mexico Major set to guarantee that early.

Team oNe and Ninjas in Pyjamas are also up there, with 605 and 550 SI Points each. 

FURIA’s Top 4 finish, meanwhile, has given them a solid amount of points that help them to climb in the standings, while FaZe Clan’s unexpected result has put their chance to attend the Invitational under threat.

Meanwhile, MIBR could fall from the Global Standings Top 16 as well, as they did not participate at the Stage 2 of the Copa Elite Six following an early-season shoulder injury for FelipoX.

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Be sure to check back here at SiegeGG for full coverage of the Mexico City Six Major, including stats, updates and interviews over the next weeks!