ESL Impact League Season 2 Finals reaches playoffs

Both North American teams fell in the group stage.

ESL Impact League Season 2 Finals has reached its bracket stage following two days of GSL group play. The $123,000 in Jönköping, Sweden started with eight teams fighting for the title, but that pool has now been whittled down to four.

Reigning Impact League champions Nigma Galaxy had little trouble making it through Group A, beating the Malaysia-China-Hong Kong combine of HSG fe in their opening match 16-10 before easing past CLG Red 16-2 to advance to the playoffs.

HSG fe managed to recover by seeing off EG Gold in the elimination round, and followed that up by dispatching of the other North American side in attendance, sending CLG Red home 2-1 to claim their own spot in the bracket stage.

ANa's 1.42 rating helped Nigma Galaxy through the group stage

Last season's runner-ups, FURIA fe, also had an easy time topping Group B, trouncing NOFEAR5 in their first match and following that up with a 16-11 win over B4 fe.

NOFEAR5 recovered from their opening 3-16 defeat by showcasing much better form in series play, not letting ATK fe or B4 fe reach double digits on any of the maps played. Two 2-0 victories ensured the Russian team could claim the final spot on offer in the bracket stage, completing the list of teams fighting for the title heading into championship Sunday.

The matchups and schedule for the ESL Impact League Season 2 playoffs can be found below:

Date	Matches
ESL Impact League Season 2 Finals
27/11/2022	FURIA fe10:00 HSG fe	Match
27/11/2022	Nigma Galaxy12:30 NOFEAR5	Match
27/11/2022	FURIA fe15:30 Nigma Galaxy	Match

CLG Red #200 Mounira 'GooseBreeder' DobieVivienne 'BiBiAhn' QuachKelsie 'uhKelsie' ClickColine 'Kaoday' Le Floc'hMarissa 'madss' Dasta NOFEAR5 Elizaveta 'Stormy' Poshekhnova EG Gold #202 Kiara 'm1lky' MakuaJessica 'jesscas' NgoAnna 'garden' GutierrezKiki 'PiggyKiki' LongLucy 'empathy' Verkaik HSG fe SinMan 'Hazel' FongRamona 'gfi' Azween Binti ZaharuddinNian 'Hffo' ZhaoAisya 'Argent' SabrinaXinni 'XiaoWu' Wu ATK fe FURIA fe #213 Olga 'Olga' RodriguesGabriela 'GaBi' MaldonadoIzabella 'izaa' GalleKarina 'kaahSENSEI' TakahashiMariana 'mari' Preste B4 fe #206 Lara 'goddess' BaceiredoJulia 'julih' GomesNataly 'nani' do Nascimento CavalcanteNadjila 'poppins' Sanchez RodriguesGiovanna 'yungher' Yungh Mataveli Nigma Galaxy #186 Ksenia 'vilga' KluenkovaAna 'ANa' DumbravăVictoria 'tory' KazievaAlexandra 'twenty3' TimoninaKatarína 'Kat' Vašková