New England Whalers, Asuna's Anime Aimers advance to FLASHPOINT Closed Qualifier
The second qualifier for FLASHPOINT came to a close today, seeing New England Whalers and Asuna's Anime Aimers fight through the bracket to earn spots in the Closed Qualifier.
Despite the qualifier overlapping with the third Americas Minor Closed Qualifier, 49 teams took part in the second open qualifier bracket, with the majority of favorites managing to fight through the to best-of-three stage. Big Frames, Station7, and Oceanus were among the names that were sent packing a little early on, with the teams falling to Third Impact, Dogs of War, and Prospects, respectively.
The quarterfinals saw Third Impact defeat a slightly modified version of Russian Street Party 2-0, while Asuna's Anime Aimers were able to put down Dogs of War thanks to a stellar showing from Tyson "TenZ" Ngo and Paytn "Junior" Johnson. Meanwhile, New England Whalers claimed victory over Prospects on the opposite side of the bracket, and a newly-signed Recon 5 side were felled by ETHEREAL.
The semifinal round saw Third Impact up against Asuna's Anime Aimers, with TenZ helping to guide his side to another 2-0 series victory. New England Whalers, who were utilizing Adam "mada" Pampuch after Marc-Andre "NiSMO" Tayar stepped down from the team earlier in the week, also prevailed in a two-map series against ETHEREAL to ensure their own Closed Qualifier berth.
The prospective team list for the FLASHPOINT Closed Qualifier now looks as follows:
 eUnited |
 Envy |
| Swole Identity |
Chaos |
| Riot Squad |
Triumph |
| Mythic |
Rugratz |
 Orgless |
RBG |
| Asuna's Anime Aimers |
New England Whalers |
The third qualifier for FLASHPOINT will play out in its entirety tomorrow, with just one qualifier remaining to be played afterwards. As always links and dates for upcoming events and qualifiers can be found on the Dust2.us Calendar.
