Gentle Mates & GIANTX Are Eliminated From EMEA Kickoff

Fnatic and Team Liquid have eliminated Gentle Mates and GIANTX from the VCT EMEA Kickoff. With that both teams will not be qualifying for Masters Bangkok as well. The winners, on the other hand, have moved to Lower Round 3, keeping their hopes alive.

Both Fnatic and Team Liquid dominated their opponents, securing clean sweeps with comfortable wins. Here are the final scores for both series:

Fnatic vs. Gentle Mates

• Winner: Fnatic
• Map 1 (Abyss): 13-5
• Map 2 (Fracture): 13-6

Team Liquid vs. GIANTX

• Winner: Team Liquid
• Map 1 (Fracture): 13-8
• Map 2 (Split): 13-6

Alfajer on Jett for the first time in EMEA was the highlight in Fnatic's match up against Gentle Mates.

Talking about this decision, Boaster said, "Honestly, we only had three days and three scrims. So, we were like, 'We’re gonna put Alfajer on Jett today because kaajak already knows how to play Yoru.' In scrims, we started doing really well on that map (Abyss) again. We thought, 'That’s probably the formula—just send the boys in full confidence because we know their caliber.' So, putting him (Alfa) on Tejo was probably not the best idea. Having him on Jett, just going in and killing, worked."

Fnatic will now be up against FUT Esports, while Team Liquid will be facing BBL on January 31.