The semi-finals have been set at Stake Pulse Beat III after Ninjas in Pyjamas, HEROIC, MIBR and 100 Thieves won their respective quarter-finals in Stockholm, Sweden.
Having just traveled back from Malta the night before the playoffs, Ninjas in Pyjamas narrowly avoided punishment for their scheduling headache with a hard-earned victory over Liquid.
The North American side rued the missed opportunity, as they gave up a lead in the series and an 8-0 advantage on the second map, Nuke, as well as a 12-10 on the deciding Cache.
HEROIC then made short work of fnatic before Astralis and MIBR clashed in another three-map affair. There, the Brazilian-majority team had Felipe "insani" Yuji to thank for a hard-carry performance and recovery from a 0-1 deficit in the series.
The 22-year-old ended the series on a 1.78 rating with his second-best teammate on 1.00, putting on a 36-20 masterclass in an overtime win on Cache before leading the way with another dominant showcase on Mirage.
The quarter-final day came to a close with 100 Thieves securing a swift 2-0 victory over Sangal, continuing their return to form and uptick in the Major race, in which they now sit at a healthy 68.1% chance to qualify.
The tournament will conclude on Saturday with the semi-finals, third-place decider and grand final:
Liquid
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou
Georgi 'Jorko' Mitev
Viktor 'flashie' Tamás Bea
Sangal
Adam 'adamS' Marian
Bartosz 'bnox' Niebisz
Luka 'puuha' Eklund
Selman 'R4DYX' Ozan
Yeray 'Joey' Serrano Pérez
Jimmy 'Jumpy' Berndtsson
100 Thieves
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
Jack 'Gizmy' von Spreckelsen
William 'sirah' Kjærsgaard
Alex 'poiii' Nyholm Sundgren
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander
HEROIC
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin
Linus 'nilo' Bergman
Tim 'susp' Ångström
Antonio 'MartinezSa' Martinez
Christoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard
Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer
Astralis
Love 'phzy' Smidebrant
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek
Victor 'Staehr' Staehr
Gytis 'ryu' Glušauskas
Nikita 'cmtry' Samolotov
Filip 'NEO' Kubski
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Martin 'stavn' Lund
Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck
Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa
Adam 'adamb' Ångström
Kacper 'xKacpersky' Gabara
Richard 'Xizt' Landström
fnatic
Rodion 'fEAR' Smyk
Dmytro 'jambo' Semera
Nikita 'jackasmo' Skyba
Artem 'cairne' Mushynskyi
Volodymyr 'mazay' Iorhachov
Miks 'Independent' Siliņš
Felipe 'insani' YujiPast 3 months
MIBR
Linus 'LNZ' Holtäng
Lucas 'nqz' Soares
Felipe 'insani' Yuji
Carlos 'venomzera' Eduardo
Tomas 'tomaszin' Corna
Nestor 'LETN1' Tanić