Rogue Gaming has qualified for the FACEIT London Major in September, becoming the first team of this Valve Major cycle to make it through.
The North Americans fought hard to reach the grand finals of the Americas Minor this week, placing first in their group and winning two playoff matches to solidify their slot in the 13th Major in CS:GO history. Their spot in the New Challenger stage of the London Major is now set, after they grabbed the first qualifier spot for the North and South American regions.
Related: Road to the FACEIT London Major: The format, schedule, and who’s qualified
Rogue topped their group with opening wins vs. Team Dignitas (Dust II 16-10) and compLexity Gaming (Inferno 16-13). With the help of veteran star Spencer “Hiko” Martin, who hasn’t reached a Major since January 2017 (ELEAGUE Atlanta), Daniel “vice” Kim and Casper “cadiaN” Moller shone against Dignitas and coL, respectively, at 23 kill top frags. Their firepower would prove to be handy later on in the team’s playoff matches.
CadiaN and Ricardo “Rickeh” Mulholland led the charge in frags against eUnited in the semifinals of the Minor, which they won 2-1 yesterday. A dominant 16-2 win on Train—that was almost a 16-0—and a tight victory on map three Inferno (16-12) earned them a spot in the upper bracket final, where they’d face coL once again for a spot in the Major.
When they took on coL earlier today, Rogue’s NA counterparts went the distance with them in two close maps. Map one Mirage went into overtime and coL’s Jacob “yay” Whiteaker dropped a whopping 38 kills, but nonetheless Rogue emerged victorious, mostly by sweeping their T side to reach a 19-17 scoreline. Dust II was also a close fight, until Rogue went on the offensive to close out the series 16-11. Hiko also dropped 30 kills in Rogue’s map two win to complete the sweep.
Rogue’s 2-0 win vs. coL puts them in the grand final of the Americas Minor, where they’ll be playing either NRG Esports, eUnited, or coL for a higher seed in the first stage of the Major—the New Challenger stage.
