Over the last three years, Team BDS have been Europe’s second-best team as they qualified for seven global events in a row -- SI 2020, 2021, and 2022, the Mexico, Sweden, and Charlotte Majors, and the OGA Pit Minor -- achieved a top-four finish at both SI 2020 and the Mexico Major, and were crowned last year’s European League champions. Now, as we reach the halfway point in Stage 2 of the European League, their remarkable event streak looks to be in trouble.
Last night, BDS lost in a fairly tight 5-7 result against NAVI. This put them in sixth place in the standings with five of nine games played.
While they only sit a single point behind the three teams ahead of them, their main issue is that their only points have come against the seventh, eighth, and ninth-placed rosters in the league -- Outsiders, G2, and PWNZ. Their next three games will be against teams placed first, second, and fifth-placed -- Wolves, Rogue, and MNM.
Across the EUL, NAL, and BR6 Leagues, the average points-haul needed for a top-four finish has been 16. This means that even assuming a regulation-time win over Team Secret on the final play day, BDS will likely need to beat two out of Wolves, Rogue, and MNM to qualify for the Berlin Major.
Despite finishing in the quarter-finals in Charlotte, Stage 1 saw BDS lose to both Rogue and MNM, while Wolves look close to unbeatable during Stage 2 with a flawless 5-0-0-0 record so far. BDS has also already lost against third and fourth-placed Heroic and NAVI this stage.
All in all, BDS can still qualify for Berlin, but it would mean a drastic improvement in performance to at least the level seen during Stage 1.
During Monday’s game, BDS were simply demolished in multiple rounds even though the scoreline ended 7-5; only one player managed to earn a positive kill-death spread, as two round-winning triple kills from Renshiro meant he finished with 10 kills to nine deaths, while Shaiiko finished with a 0.50 Rating.
Looking at the first game they lost against Heroic paints a very similar story, as the 5-7 defeat ended with only Shaiiko going positive at 10 kills to nine deaths.
While BDS clearly performed better in the games they won, Rogue and Wolves are playing better than both Heroic and NAVI, making these the more relevant and concerning results. The scorelines are the main upsides, as they came very close to salvaging points in both games. But Outsiders similarly took BDS to overtime and BDS’s win against G2 was also with a 7-5 scoreline, meaning they were just as close to losing points as they were to gaining them.
Should they miss out on Berlin, this will be particularly disappointing for French fans, as the last time a global event with a crowd was held in Europe -- the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals in Milan -- BDS had not yet been formed, with Shaiiko joining BDS just 11 days after Team Empire lifted their first top-tier trophy.
In fact, to date, BDS has never played even a national or regional LAN in front of an open crowd with their entire Pro League and EU League histories coming during the COVID-era.
French fans will, however, almost certainly have Wolves Esports in attendance as BiBooAF’s team hopes to be Europe’s answer to the recent American dominance. With Wolves set to face BDS on the penultimate play day, it’s very possible that it could be the all-French derby that ends BDS’ streak unless BDS can pick up valuable points against Rogue next Monday.