Europe's Last Chance Qualifiers are set to kick off later today as the winner of the bracket will join Team BDS, Team Secret, and Virtus.pro to represent Europe at the BLAST R6 Major Montreal.
Including six teams from Europe's top-flight and two teams from the region's Tier 2 ecosystem, here's everything you need to know before the start of Europe's Last Chance Qualifier:
Format
Europe's Last Chance Qualifier for Montreal will be a single-elimination bracket with BO3 matches. Therefore, the last team standing will take the region's fourth seed to compete in Montreal.
Teams
These are the eight teams that will compete in Europe's Last Chance Qualifier:
Wolves Esports
Wolves Esports' players are the favorites to take Europe's fourth seed after being one map away twice to qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal.
First, the team fell short in the Europe League 2024 Stage 2 semifinals after losing to the eventual regional champions Team BDS.
In Europe's third-place decider match, the French-speaking roster lost to Virtus.pro after the Russians closed out the series with wins on Nighthaven Labs and Consulate.
Qualifying for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal is vital for Wolves Esports as the French roster must win the Last Chance Qualifier to still have chances of qualifying for the Six Invitational 2025 through the Global Standings.
G2 Esports
G2 Esports was knocked out of the Europe League 2024 Stage 2 playoffs after a one-sided defeat against Virtus.pro. After finishing in fifth place following a 2-1 victory over WYLDE, the samurai have the chance of qualifying for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal through the Last Chance Qualifiers.
Similarly, G2 Esports qualified for the BLAST R6 Major Manchester after finishing in fifth place and winning last split's Last Chance Qualifier. To keep their hopes of qualifying for the Six Invitational 2025 through the Global Standings, the samurai must do so.
WYLDE
WYLDE's growth during the last couple of months has been really interesting to follow. From bottoming the standings in Stage 1 to taking down some of Europe's powerhouses, the team has made a step in the right direction after signing some of the region's most exciting gems. Only time will tell how far can WYLDE go.
Fnatic
Fnatic's second split could be defined as sloppy. The team suffered from being unable to close some matches, while the inconsistency of some of their players saw them getting in trouble, especially during the first games of the split.
With Leonardo "Sarks" Sarchi having fully adapted to the top-flight playstyle and with the return of Juhani "Kantoraketti" Toivonen to the roster, Fnatic could be a hard nut to crack.
ITB Academy
Surprisingly, ITB Academy defeated Into The Breach's main roster after victories on Border and Consulate.
ITB Academy is one of the best Tier 2 rosters in the region and includes a couple of former Challenger League players in Iikka "Erkkari" Anttila and Nikita "RORICK" Kruchinkin.
Into The Breach
Into The Breach have been far behind the team's Stage 1 level as they finished outside of the region's Top 6 after finishing the group stage with a record of two regulation wins and six defeats.
Eventually, the BLAST R6 Major Manchester-bound qualified for the Last Chance Qualifier with the third seed after defeating Project X.
Project X
After finishing in second place in the R6 Central Combine 2024, Project X's roster has suffered changes as only Gábor "Rexhun999" Czikai and Johann "Jay" Raddatz remain in the team. Since then, the former G2 Esports player Lucas "Hungry" Reich, Daya, and OuZii have joined the team.
After defeating ENCE in the Open Qualifiers quarterfinals, ProjectX took the fourth seed after defeats against Fnatic and Into the Breach.
ENCE
ENCE's eighth place in the Europe League 2024 Stage 2 was followed by an unexpected defeat against Project X, which saw the French roster falling to the Open Qualifier elimination bracket. There, the squad defeated the Tier 2 rosters Eminem Academy and MACKO Esports to qualify for the Last Chance Qualifiers.
Bracket and matches
Here's a look at the bracket and the games that will be played starting from today, October 14, until Wednesday, October 16:
Quarterfinals
- Match 1, October 14 (18:00 CEST): Wolves Esports vs. ENCE
- Match 2, October 14 (21:30 CEST): Fnatic vs. ITB Academy
- Match 3, October 15 (18:00 CEST): WYLDE vs. Into The Breach
- Match 4, October 15 (21:30 CEST): G2 Esports vs. Project X
Semifinals
- Match 5, October 16 (15:00 CEST): Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2
- Match 6, October 16 (18:30 CEST): Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4
Grand Final
- Match 7, October 16 (22:00 CEST): Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6
Montreal and the Six Invitational 2025 standings
The result of Europe's Last Chance Qualifiers will have an impact on the Six Invitational 2025 Global Standings. As of now, Team BDS and Team Secret have already secured a spot to compete in Boston, Massachusetts, but that's it: no more European teams can be found among the best sixteen rosters.
In fact, the third-highest European team in the standings after Team Secret (6th, 410) is Into The Breach (19th, 230). In 25th place, we find Virtus.pro with 210 SI Points, followed by G2 Esports with 205. After missing out on Manchester, Wolves Esports are in 32nd place with 170 SI Points.
With all Into The Breach, G2 Esports, and Wolves Esports being in the Last Chance Qualifiers, at least two of the three rosters (or even all of them) will have to play for a spot at the Six Invitational 2025 in Europe's regional qualifiers. If any of them qualify for Montreal, they would probably need to survive to the play-in stage and get a couple of victories in the Swiss Stage.
Therefore, there's a real chance that Europe only send three teams to the Six Invitational 2025, the same number of rosters the region sent to the Six Invitational 2024 — but still a downgrade compared to the tally of five teams sent to the Six Invitational 2022 and seven teams to the Six Invitational 2023.