The past week saw over 100 players enter ESL's two last chance cups, each awarding three berths to the IEM European Championship following the ESL's decision to add six more slots.

Aspiring amateurs vying to make it to the finals were met by a bunch of Europe's elite duelers including Maciej 'av3k' Krzykowski, Alessandro 'stermy' Avallone and Sebastian 'Spart1e' Siira, who all missed the initial qualifying round.

In the first cup, Spart1e, av3k and Guard prevailed above all others to book their places alongside Europe's best. Stermy also entered the cup but faced internet problems in his first game, forcing him to forfeit and wait until the second.

The second cup was won by Romain 'Dem0n' Leclercq, last seen at DreamHack Summer where he failed to win a single group game but, like Guard, is always in the mix for the top spots in online cups. Stermy's internet seemed to have redeemed itself as he came second, while relatively unknown German player Philipp 'reload' Kotecki picked up the third and final slot.

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Photograph coypright of ESL