EU Spring Challenger Series Playoffs: Semifinal Preview

The EU Spring Challenger Series Playoffs commenced this week with Denial Esports overcoming Team Coast Gold and Reason Gaming beating Mousesports in the Quarterfinals. Both of the victors move on to face teams that have already notched a Challenger Series win. Denial will face Cloud 9 Eclipse, the Challenger Series 1 champion, while Reason will battle the Challenger Series 2 champion, Ninjas in Pyjamas.

How They Got Here

Denial Esports Denial Esports swept Team Coast Gold in the EU CS Quarterfinals 2-0. They controlled both games and showed that they were the better squad throughout. Denial is a tough team to prepare for since they have so many threats. While jungler Kikis posted an impressive 7/0/2 KDA in Game One to be the linchpin for that victory, the script flipped and top laner Babunia carried the day in Game Two against TCG. At the same time, mid laner niQ 760 and AD Carry Woolite have been carrying games for the team throughout the Spring Challenger Series. Denial Esports enters the matchup against Cloud 9 Eclipse with momentum stemming from their defeat of the CS 1 Champions in the Challenger Series 2 bracket stage. Reason Gaming

Reason Gaming fought a tough three game set against Mouseports in the EU CS Quarterfinals to advance onto the semis. They're paced by their jungler Trashy, a top tier solo queue Challenger player on EUW, who's success often determines if the team wins or loses. In the clinching Game Three against Mouseports, he had a 7/1/3 game, but had a miserable 5/8/8 performance in the game that RG dropped. Their match against the Ninjas in Pyjamas is actually a rematch of the EU CS 2 Finals where RG suffered a brutal 2-0 sweep. They've had two weeks to digest the loss, and come in looking for a modicum of revenge. Ninjas in Pyjamas The Ninjas in Pyjamas earned a first round bye in the Challenger Playoffs on the back of their Challenger Series 2 victory. NiP's Challenger Series 2 win coupled with a strong finish in CS 1 actually gave them the No. 1 overall seed entering the Playoffs. The veteran-laden squad has appeared to come together in the past several weeks and have been beating Challenger teams as badly (if not worse) than North America's LMQ. Cloud 9 Eclipse C9E's Challenger Series 1 victory gave them enough Circuit Points to carry them into the other bye even though Denial Esports beat them early in the brackets of CS 2. They've had to endure a bit of roster changeover as k0u stepped aside for CS 2 due to age restrictions, but has since returned to play in the playoffs. K0u's return has given C9E a needed boost and they've rolled through the Black Monster Cup ahead of their semifinals game against Denial. While they did score a victory against Denial in the BMC finals, the stakes are much higher this go-around.

What to expect

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Reason Gaming The recent best-of-three in Challenger Series 2 between these two teams give a solid cheat sheet for this match. Ninjas in Pyjamas leaned heavily on Nukeduck in the mid lane to create pressure in both of their games, and he delivered with tremendous performances on Ahri and Zed. The Ninjas have developed a slower, methodical play style that isn't the most dynamic, but also doesn't beat itself. It falls on Reason Gaming's shoulders to try and force mistakes through superior rotations, and objective control. If they can force NiP to play at a quicker tempo than they are comfortable with, that will go a long way toward victory. Otherwise, NiP should settle in and steamroll Reason Gaming. Cloud 9 Eclipse vs. Denial Esports The recent match history between these two squads doesn't provide near the cheat sheet that it did for NiP/RG due to the return of k0u. C9E won CS 1 with k0u in the jungle, and have reeled off wins in other tournaments since their departure from CS 2. K0u brings a focus on early gank pressure that snowballs mid laner Febiven and AD Carry Hjarnan into unstoppable killers. K0u will put pressure on Denial's Kikis to either counter-gank, or accurately respond with pressure elsewhere on the map to keep the game under control. The other interesting matchup between these two teams is in the middle lane. Febiven has shown a penchant for assassins with an occasional Kayle while niQ 760 has made hay on traditional AP mages such as Ziggs and Nidalee.

What's Next?

These two matchups are scheduled for Thursday April 10, 2014 with Cloud 9 Eclipse taking on Denial Esports starting at 9:00AM PST / 18:00 CEST. That best-of-three will be immediately followed by Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Reason Gaming. The winners move to the Final while the losers get a spot in the 3rd place game.

Related Article

• EU CS 2 Finals Preview
• The Recap: EU Challenger Series 2