fnatic, HEET qualify for FantasyExpo EU Champions Spring

The two teams have a shot at qualifying for the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.

fnatic and HEET have secured spots at FantasyExpo EU Champions Spring, a tournament taking place on March 25-28 that will award the winner a spot at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.

To reach the FantasyExpo event, both teams had to go through their respective regional qualifiers, fnatic winning the UK and Ireland Closed Qualifier and HEET doing it through the France Closed Qualifier.

KRIMZ was back in action to help fnatic make it to the next stage

fnatic once again played with Peppe "⁠Peppzor⁠" Borak and Valentin "⁠poizon⁠" Vasilev, but were also able to field Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson who missed the ESL Pro League Season 15 group stage due to a Covid-19 infection, helping the team beat the likes of FAMBIT, Into the Breach and Endpoint.

HEET clinched their spot at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown qualifier in a nail-biter against Falcons in the grand final, taking out Bryan "⁠Maka⁠" Canda and company in three maps with an overtime to finish it off. Thomas "⁠Djoko⁠" Pavoni, the series' highest rated player, had particular impact in the decider with a 1.40 rating by the end of the 35 rounds of play.

The two teams join Sprout, who made their way through the DACH qualifier, as well as the Elite Series Spring group stage winners EC Brugge, and two teams from Polish Esport League — PACT being one of them. Two more spots will also go to teams from the European closed qualifier.

The FantasyExpo EU Champions Spring team list so far is:

Sprout
HEET
EC Brugge
EU Closed Qualifierfnatic
PACT
Polish Esport League
EU Closed QualifierEC Brugge #86 Mateusz 'matty' KołodziejczykSteven 'Stev0se' RombautRichard 'ritchiEE' MestdaghKilian 'Gringo' GarciaMateusz 'n0tice' Wolniak Falcons #41 Ali 'hAdji' HaïnoussBryan 'Maka' CandaNicolas 'Keoz' DgusJordan 'Python' Munck-FoehrleJayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen Van Endpoint #24 Joey 'CRUC1AL' SteuselMax 'MiGHTYMAX' HeathKia 'Surreal' ManGuy 'NertZ' IluzMohammad 'BOROS' Malhas Freddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson Age: 27 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1752 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.64 HEET #21 Alexandre 'bodyy' PianaroLucas 'Lucky' ChastangThomas 'Djoko' PavoniPierre 'Ex3rcice' BulingeAurélien 'afro' Drapier Peppe 'Peppzor' Borak Age: 19 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 175 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.69 fnatic #13 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonAlex 'ALEX' McMeekinValentin 'poizon' VasilevPeppe 'Peppzor' BorakWilliam 'mezii' Merriman Bryan 'Maka' Canda Age: 24 Team: Falcons Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1153 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.64 PACT #132 Paweł 'reatz' JańczakDawid 'lunAtic' CieślakMateusz 'TOAO' ZawistowskiAdrian 'SAYN' ŁączyńskiBartosz 'bnox' Niebisz Thomas 'Djoko' Pavoni Age: 24 Team: HEET Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 424 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.68 FAMBIT #119 Javier 'Ping' GriffithsTom 'arTisT' ClarkeMatas 'Extinct' StrumilaCallum 'Girafffe' JonesSebastian 'volt' Maloș Into the Breach #76 Yaroslav 'isk' IssakovKirk 'Tadpole' StephensAdam 'Adam9130' AhmadCai 'CYPHER' WatsonWilliam 'dobbo' Dobson Valentin 'poizon' Vasilev Age: 23 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 1085 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.64 Sprout #30 Rasmus 'raalz' SteensborgTimo 'Spiidi' RichterFritz 'slaxz-' DietrichMax 'Marix' KugenerVictor 'Staehr' Staehr