RES Regional Champions was a $250.000 event held in Belgrade, Serbia. It was organized by RLG and featured eight teams from the top 100.
Nemiga Gaming, who were ranked 46th, were not expected to win. But they performed just well enough to claim the trophy and the $150.000 prize awarded to the winner.
Nemiga’s Path To The Trophy
Nemiga started RES Regional Champions in group A, where they had to play against Sangal Esports, Fluxo, and Aurora Gaming.
Their first match, against Sangal, was an unfortunate failure. After winning Ancient 6 – 13 and leading on Vertigo 4 – 8, Nemiga lost the second map in overtime (19 – 17) and were crushed on the third map 13 – 5.
To advance to the playoffs, Nemiga now had to beat both Aurora and Fluxo. Against both of them, they struggled and gave the impression that they would lose. But, thanks to the excellent performance of Ivan “zweih” Gogin and some of his teammates, they triumped each time and won the match 2 – 1.
In the playoffs, Nemiga encountered Fnatic, who had won group B with ease. Once again, everyone assumed they would lose but they played far better than expected, winning 13 – 5 on Ancient and 13 – 10 on Dust II.
Apart from Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson, who finished the match with a neutral KD score of 31 – 31, all of Fnatic players struggled.
The Grand Final was an excellent opportunity for UNPAID, Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad’s current team, to achieve a great result. But Nemiga ruined his plans.
After losing the first map 13 – 10, the team led by Aleksandr “1eeR” Nahornyj easily won on Ancient (7 – 13) and Inferno (6 – 13).
After this win, Nemiga will probably receive more invitations from tournament organizers. Another thing worth mentioning is that they also qualified for ESL Pro League S21. This clearly indicates that their RES Regional Champions victory was not a fluke.
