16 teams set for final shot at North American First Strike qualification

With the conclusion of this week’s closed qualifiers run by UMG, 16 North American teams are set to battle it out at next week’s First Strike North America - UMG Closed Qualifier to claim the final four spots to the First Strike main event. The participants will be:

From Nerd Street Gamers Closed Qualifier:

Cloud9 Blue T1 Complexity TSM

From UMG Open Qualifier #1:

Andbox Equinox Esports Immortals Moon Raccoons Dignitas Spacestation Gaming

From UMG Open Qualifier #2:

Gen.G Esports Pittsburgh Knights FaZe Clan Luminosity Gaming Serenity NRG Esports

Many new faces are appearing in this qualifier as opposed to the First Strike North America - NSG Tournament - Closed Qualifier, making good on their second chance at qualification. NYFU, Immortals, Moon Raccoons, and Spacestation Gaming all number among these. In fact, the only two teams to qualify on the first attempt that did take part in the previous closed qualifier were Equinox Esports and Dignitas. Each had great runs, with Equinox’s qualification match against Spacestation being chock full of incredible plays.

More interesting, however, are the teams that needed two tries. Gen.G Esports struggled in the first qualifier, falling out to FaZe Clan, while FaZe themselves lost back-to-back qualification matches against Moon Raccoons and Spacestation. NRG barely squeezed in with one of the last qualifying spots of the entire event, only winning two matches their first time around though they did come up against a very tough Andbox squad. Meanwhile, some familiar faces won’t even be attending the competition. It’s been a very disappointing week for XSET, who won’t be following up their closed qualifier participation from last time around, and beastcoast will not have attended a single closed qualifier with a very disappointing First Strike run.

Of course, four teams from the Nerd Street Gamers Closed Qualifier will be joining them in the hunt for a First Strike spot. Cloud9 and TSM will be favourites to qualify for First Strike, while T1 and Complexity will be looking to follow up on their previous success and secure a spot of their own. Most would probably rate Andbox and Gen.G as other serious contenders, though the success of underdogs like Renegades last time out means anything and everything could be in the cards.

The UMG Closed Qualifier will run from November 19th-22nd, following the exact same format as the previous Nerd Street Gamers-run event, with the teams coming from the top 8 of that tournament seeded first in the groups. Tune in on twitch.tv/umggaming, and follow along with THESPIKE.GG!