Title image courtesy of ESL
The first eliminations of the playoffs at ESL One Katowice 2019 include Team Aster, Chaos Esports Club and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Team Aster notched a mediocre 5-5 win-loss record through the group stages. The Chinese squad was scheduled to go toe-to-toe with an inconsistent OG team for the opening series of the day. Unfortunately for Team Aster, they caught OG at the wrong time. OG throttled them in a quick two games which combined for just over 50 minutes. Team Aster recently acquired Chai ‘Mushi’ Yee Fung to provide a spark to the lineup, but they will have to settle for a 7-8th finish.
Later in the day, OG was set to square up with Ninjas in Pyjamas. The series proved to be a bit more competitive than their previous endeavor. A full three games were logged, but every win was a one-sided stomping. Ninjas in Pyjamas dissected their European counterparts to take an early lead in the series. However, OG stormed back to steal the series away on the back of two straight Troll Warlord draft picks.
Ninja in Pyjamas are yet to find the consistency required to make deeper runs at LAN events and will need to search a bit harder with DreamLeague Season 11 Major right around the corner. They close out the event placing 5-6th.
The series between Chaos Esports Club and Mineski took a turn away from the normal. Game one featured a steady diet of “cheese” heroes from both teams. The clash between Huskar and Meepo went on for over 72 minutes before the contest was finally settled in favor of Chaos Esports Club. While the losers in such gruesome games typically fall apart in the series, Mineski rallied quite decisively in the final two. Chaos Esports Club will share a 7-8th finish with Team Aster.
More playoff action is scheduled to begin on February 23, 2019 at 12:00 CET. Yet another two teams will make an exit as the journey to crown an ESL One Katowice champion continues.
