The regular season of ESL Pro League Season 6 has finally come to its end. It's crunch time for teams to clinch the last few spots available in the North American standings. Some teams may make their mark while others will miss out on the action heading to Odense, Denmark.
Here's how Week 7 played out.
NRG (16-10, 47 points) kicked off the final week of ESL Pro League as the team looked to clinch its respective spot in the Top 6 for playoffs. After a contested 1-1 tie with Misfits (15-11, 47 points) on Tuesday, the team decided to bring back more firepower with Damian "daps" Steele brought back into the lineup to replace Dylan "RIKO" Sabin-Arnce. On Friday, NRG came out swinging against Luminosity (15-11, 43 points) for a 2-0 smackdown to clinch the playoff berth. NRG swept Immortals 2-0 for the final matchup of the week, claiming the fourth spot in the NA standings.
Cloud9 (14-12, 41 points) continued the action on Tuesday against Team Liquid (17-9, 48 points), who played one series in the final week, with a quick blowout in Game 1 with a 16-2 win, but Liquid rallied back to settle the series in a 1-1 tie. Still in the hunt to clinch a playoff spot, Cloud9 went head-to-head against OpTic Gaming (20-6, 60 points), who leads the NA standings. But the multi-national roster ousted a quick 2-0 sweep, putting Cloud9 on thin ice. With only a small window of opportunity and a little hope, Cloud9 stumbled against Misfits, who crushed Cloud9 in Game 1 for an even 1-1 series that cost C9 the playoff berth as Luminosity clinched the sixth and final spot with a win over Rogue (6-20, 19 points).
Week 7 was do or die time for Luminosity Gaming, who had a roller-coaster ride of emotions in the final week of action but managed to squeeze through in the Top 6. The action started on Wednesday as the Brazilians picked up its first 2-0 sweep over Renegades (12-14, 35 points) just edging out the win in Game 2. Starting on a high-note, the team then hit rock bottom as NRG came out swinging with a crushing and quick 2-0 win to put the team in jeopardy. With the final match against Rogue, Luminosity only needed one more game to edge Cloud9 for the final spot in the NA standings. Luminosity capitalized on Cloud9's mistakes and ended the week with an overtime win in Game 1 to lock up the playoff spot.
It was a busy and hectic final week for Misfits as the team only needed a few more wins to clinch the fifth spot in the NA standings. On Tuesday, Misfits kicked off its week with a convincing win over NRG in Game 1, however, NRG came back in Game 2 to even the series. Misfits picked up again on Wednesday against Ghost Gaming, who had a tough series but couldn't come out with a win in the 2-0 splash. Misfits seemed to be in a good position with the losses handed to Luminosity and Cloud9, but compLexity (11-15, 33 points) made it difficult with a lopsided series that resulted in an even tie. The final and most important match of the week came down against Cloud9 in a tough series, but Misfits got out on top early with a Game 1 win. While Cloud9 managed to even the series, that first win was all Misfits needed to lock up a playoffs spot keep Cloud9 out of the postseason.
With the regular season now in the books, the Top 6 of NA shook out with OpTic Gaming at the top spot, followed by SK Gaming, NRG Esports, Luminosity Gaming, Misfits and Team Liquid. These teams will now travel to Odense, Denmark for the finals Tuesday, December 5th to face off with the best that Europe has to offer.