Gambit clinch ECS Season 5 spot

Gambit defeated Natus Vincere 2-0 (16-6 Cobblestone, 16-12 Overpass) in the upper bracket final of the ECS Season 5 Europe Challenge Cup, earning a spot in ECS.

The first team to qualify for ECS Season 5 Europe from the Challenger Cup has been decided today, as Gambit took down Natus Vincere.

The match kicked off on Cobblestone, the Ukrainian team's map pick, where they weren't able to get the good CT start, but still ended with a respectable number of six rounds going into the Terrorist side. However, Gambit locked it down on the defensive side, with Mihail "⁠Dosia⁠" Stolyarov, Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev and Rustem "⁠mou⁠" Telepov putting up strong performances to close the map quickly, 16-6.

Hobbit's squad finally secured a spot in a top-tier online league

Overpass followed, where Natus Vincere started off much better, grabbing a 7-4 lead as Terrorists despite losing the pistol. However, with Denis "⁠seized⁠" Kostin on the forefront, Gambit recovered and took the lead going into the second half, 8-7.

Despite an anti-force loss, Gambit were able to establish themselves on the Terrorist side early and contain Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev well enough to grab a 16-12 victory and a 2-0 for the series.

ECS Season 5 Europe Challenger CupBest of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 0 2 8th March 2018 Gambit 6Cobblestone 16 12Overpass 16

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	44 - 36	+8	98.5	1.35
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	43 - 39	+4	86.6	1.17
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	32 - 38	-6	81.2	0.96
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	24 - 38	-14	60.7	0.66
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	21 - 43	-22	46.2	0.62

Gambit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Denis 'seized' Kostinseized	42 - 33	+9	95.9	1.34
Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevAdreN	43 - 35	+8	83.3	1.29
Mihail 'Dosia' StolyarovDosia	41 - 34	+7	93.2	1.23
Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovHObbit	36 - 34	+2	83.5	1.15
Rustem 'mou' Telepovmou	32 - 28	+4	60.6	0.99

With this result, Gambit have, for the first time, qualified for one of the two top online leagues. The squad is currently playing their fourth consecutive ESEA MDL season in hopes of qualifying for ESL Pro League, and have failed in their last four attempts to make ECS, placing third the last two times.

The following teams now have a spot in ECS Season 5:

Astralis	Envy
FaZe	fnatic
G2	Virtus.pro
MOUZ	Ninjas in Pyjamas
Gambit	TBD

Astralis #8 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Gambit #14 Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevMihail 'Dosia' StolyarovRustem 'mou' TelepovDenis 'seized' KostinAbay 'HObbit' Khassenov Rustem 'mou' Telepov Age: 26 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 776 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.66 Natus Vincere #7 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov G2 #9 Richard 'shox' PapillonKenny 'kennyS' SchrubNathan 'NBK-' SchmittDan 'apEX' MadesclaireAlexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro Ninjas in Pyjamas #10 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanWilliam 'draken' SundinFredrik 'REZ' Sterner FaZe #1 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenOlof 'olofmeister' KajbjerLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' Nygaard Dauren 'AdreN' Kystaubayev Age: 28 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1078 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.68 Envy #28 Fabien 'kioShiMa' FieyCédric 'RpK' GuipouyAdil 'ScreaM' BenrlitomVincent 'Happy' SchopenhauerAli 'hAdji' Haïnouss Denis 'seized' Kostin Age: 23 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 1064 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.67 MOUZ #4 Tomáš 'oskar' ŠťastnýChris 'chrisJ' de JongMiikka 'suNny' KemppiMartin 'STYKO' StykRobin 'ropz' Kool Virtus.pro #18 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiJanusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiPaweł 'byali' BielińskiMichał 'MICHU' Müller fnatic #5 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonMaikil 'Golden' Selim Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 20 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.20 Maps played: 758 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.68 Mihail 'Dosia' Stolyarov Age: 29 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1169 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.66