The ESL One Los Angeles Chinese Qualifiers have finally come to an end. And Invictus Gaming, Royal Never Give Up and EHOME came out on top.
Invictus Gaming was the first team to qualify. They had an excellent run, only dropping a single game in the group stage. And they crushed Team Aster in the final series, with impressive performances from mid-laner Zhou “Emo” Yi. He was an immovable beast on Medusa in the first game. And an unstoppable force on Kunkka in the second. Jin “flyfly”‘ Zhiyi also had a high impact on Morphling in the second game. He had the most kills, did a crazy amount of tower damage, and didn’t even die. Now that’s the kind of carry player you’d want on your team.
Royal Never Give Up claimed the second spot, beating EHOME in two close games. Du “Monet” peng was fearsome on Lifestealer and Riki. Gao “Setsu” Zhenxiong was equally good on Void Spirit and Puck. And Su “Flywin” Lei, also known as ‘Flyby’, deserves a special mention for his high impact on Dark Seer in the first game. It’s easy to give all the accolades to mid-lane and carry players. But with 4 kills, 2 deaths, and 23 assists, Flyby had a strong presence in the game.
EHOME beat Team Aster in the third-place match to become the third and final team to qualify. There wasn’t a lot to separate the two teams. But Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang was the difference in both games, with superb performances on Tinker and Medusa. EHOME looked impressive throughout the qualifiers, only losing to Invictus Gaming and Royal Never Give Up, the two teams who finished above them.
In a shocking turn of events, PSG.LGD were eliminated in the open qualifiers and Vici Gaming decided to skip the event. Many considered them to be the two best teams in China. But there’s no denying that Invictus Gaming, Royal Never Give Up and EHOME are the three best teams in the region right now. They have a chance to duke it out with the best teams in other regions at the ESL One Los Angeles Major in March.
Team Aster fell short in the semi-final and the third-place match. But it’s not all doom and gloom for them. They move on to the StarLadder ImbaTV Minor Qualifiers, which takes place on February 18 and 19. And if they qualify and somehow win the minor, they will become the last team to qualify for the major.
