Nouns found a worthy opponent: ECL S43 final days recap

Since last week, ESL Challenger League Season 43 North America has been going full throttle. From November 28th until the final day of the group stage, December 6th. During these days, teams were able to complete their schedule, with EG Black playing all seven games in this final stretch.

Some storylines arose during the last days of group play, such as oNe and EG Black facing off while both teams had a 6-0 record, the same between Nouns and ATK.

Going through the games in chronological order, on November 28th, MIBR bounced back with two clean sweeps against Detonate and Snakes Den after losing to Iron Blood last week. Iron Blood couldn't continue the unbeaten streak as the team fell to EG Black.

November 29th had EG Black and oNe continue their win streaks with victories over 7AM NA and Detonate, respectively. Villainous claimed their second win in five games against Disconnected, and Vendetta took a 2-1 win over Mythic to also stay unbeatable.

On November 30th, Mythic continued the losing streak, this time against ATK. MIBR were still on their revenge tour, as they took Strife down 2-0. 7AM NA were still yet to find a win after losing against Iron Blood.

December 1st had more games played than any other day. oNe beat MIBR in a Brazilian derby, ATK unplugged Disconnected, and Nouns swept Vendetta, so all three winners maintained their invincible runs alive. Strife bounced back after two straight losses to win against Iron Blood, and Detonate also got back on track with a win over 7AM NA. Mythic finally found their first win of the season against Red Wolves.

EG Black extended the winning record on December 2nd against MIBR, and ATK did the same versus Vendetta. The next two days saw EG Black destroy their opposition, first against Snakes Den, and then against Detonate.

December 5th was full of clean sweeps, except for the game between Vendetta and Villainous, which ended with a win for Vendetta. The other games saw EG Black winning over Strife, Disconnected over Red Wolves, MIBR over 7AM NA, and Mythic over Post Mortem.

Strife came back the very next day with a 2-1 win over Detonate, Post Mortem continued the losing streak against Vendetta, EG Black and ATK remained unbeaten with wins over oNe and Post Mortem, respectively. Snakes Den finally got a win, it coming against 7AM NA. This EG Black win meant that the time would finish the group stage without dropping a single map.

The final round of games of the regular season also saw ATK win resoundingly from beginning to end, dropping only two maps. Disconnected managed to snatch a playoff spot with a win over Vendetta, Mythic saved itself and sent Villainous to relegation after a tight 2-1 victory, and 7AM NA finally got a win against Strife, but it didn't serve them too well, as they are going to be playing the next season in Advanced. Post Mortem got a second chance at maintaining their spot in ESL Challenger League after escaping direct relegation with a win over Red Wolves, oNe swept Iron Blood, and Nouns lost first place in the group to ATK after losing 2-1.

With the end of the regular season, teams are now preparing for the crucial playoff stage which will award the winner with an ESL Pro League Season 17 Conference spot.

The ESL Challenger League Season 43 North America ended with the following standings: