Isn’t it great that the most important tournament of the year is held in the trenches of online CS? And that it still kicks off with two BO1s that pretty much decide your entire fate? Oh, we just love it.

But we’ll save that rant for another time. Right now, we’ve got way more interesting things to talk about - like Astralis missing their fifth Major in a row!

3-0

Let’s start with the flawless runs - HEROIC and OG.

HEROIC came into the MRQ looking like one of the strongest teams, and they lived up to the hype. They didn’t drop a single map on their way to Austin, taking down PARIVISION, ENCE, and lastly Nemiga in the qualifying BO3.

Not exactly the toughest gauntlet, but this is online CS, so anything can happen… and usually does.

Just look at OG. They punched their ticket to the Major with an impressive run, led by a standout performance from IGL Chr1zN, who closed the tournament with a 1.17 rating.

And do you know who else is on that roster? Nicoodoz and Buzz. If Astralis come calling, please don’t pick up the phone.

3-1, 3-2 & 2-3

Speaking of, the mad lads did it again.

Asstralis are officially missing the Austin Major after losses to OG and Metizport dropped them into the tiebreaker BO3 for the final spot, against B8.

Things were actually looking good on the decider map, with an 11-6 lead for the Danes… but it’s Astralis we’re talking about. Of course they threw it, losing in OT after botching a disgusting 3v1. Well, you know what they say: sixth time’s the charm!

In less exciting fashion, Nemiga, BetBoom, and Metizport all secured their spots at the Major with a 3-1 record. Honestly, we could’ve named three other teams we expected to make it instead. Shoutout to Metizport for showing NIP how it’s done.

Because the MRQ only handed out six slots this time, ENCE missed out despite going 3–2, falling to B8 in the sixth-place decider bracket.

Also falling short of a trip to Austin are 9Pandas, SAW, and BIG - with the last two being relative surprises, as many had them penciled in as strong contenders for a Major spot.

1-3 & 0-3

The biggest upset of the MRQ has to be 1-3 GamerLegion.

After losses to Nemiga and fnatic in the BO1 rounds, they put themselves in a terrible position, eventually getting eliminated by SAW in the 1-2 game. This was genuinely more surprising than Astralis missing the Major five times in a row.

It seems that, after strong performances on consecutive tier-1 LANs, the team just couldn’t adapt to the online environment. Tough times for the GL boys.

In the downright awful pool we’ve got Jame’s PARIVISION and 500, both going out without a win.

As for 500, the results speak for themselves. The team entered the MRQ off a strong second-place finish in CCT EU Series 20, where they convincingly beat the likes of ENCE, Monte, and 9Pandas. But in the MRQ? They could only manage 13 rounds in total. They’re not beating the allegations any time soon…

In the end, the teams that qualified for the Major from the EU MRQ are:

🇪🇺 HEROIC
🇪🇺 OG
🇷🇺 Nemiga
🇷🇺 BetBoom
🇸🇪 Metizport
🇺🇦 B8