Evil Geniuses, Forsaken head to Jönköping Closed Qualifier

Last night two of North America's best teams made it through the first men's Counter-Strike 2 North American open qualifier event as they join Nouns and Complexity in next week's Closed Qualifier, with only one spot available in Jönköping for the region.

Forsaken had a smoother ride to qualification compared to Evil Geniuses, who easily dispatched MIGHT, but faced some familiar friends in Party Astronauts who were coming off of a massive upset against Imperial at the BLAST Premier Americas Showdown earlier that day, albeit in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Party Astronauts were not able to replicate their success in CS2 as they would fall 13-4, 13-9, 13-1 to Colby "Walco" Walsh's squad.

Forsaken have proven to be more than capable at the top level as they easily dispatched Wildcard, who sit atop ESL Challenger League Season 46 with a flawless 6-0 record right after taking down Limitless 13-6 earlier in the bracket. Josh "JBa" Barutt was one of the stars of the evening as his 35 kills and 1.78 HLTV Rating somehow underscore his dominance throughout the series.

With Forsaken and Evil Geniuses joining Nouns and Complexity in the ESL Challenger Jönköping North American Closed Qualifier, the stage is set for the four teams to battle it out for only one spot in Sweden. The next stage begins October 10th and ends the following day.