SAW and GUN5 won their opening matches at the ESL Challenger

The opening day of the closed qualifiers for ESL Challenger Atlanta 2024 Europe began, with SAW, GamerLegion, Sashi, and GUN5 winning their first matches. These victories have propelled them into the semifinals, where they will face off against each other.

The teams that lost have dropped to the lower bracket, where they will compete against one another, with the losing team being eliminated from the qualifiers.

All matches were played in a best-of-three format simultaneously. A notable upset was GUN5's victory over NIP, despite GUN5 not being a top team. The match was nearly a 2-0 sweep for GUN5, but NIP managed a comeback on the second map, only to falter on the third map.

The standout performer across all matches was Timur “FL4MUS” Maryev, who delivered an outstanding performance against Aurora, boasting a remarkable rating of 8.2. His exceptional play on Nuke, where GamerLegion secured a 13-1 win, saw his rating soar to an impressive 9.9.

The elimination matches will see Aurora take on GenOne and Monte face NIP. Meanwhile, the upper bracket finals will feature SAW versus GamerLegion and Sashi against GUN5.

Teams in the upper bracket still have a chance to recover from a defeat, while those in the lower bracket face the possibility of being eliminated from this crucial qualification.