How can the world's best team and the defending Major champions fall short against an inexperienced underdog team in a series with everything to play for?

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If you ask Bad News Eagles’ Genc "gxx-" Kolgeci, who just managed to eliminate FaZe at IEM Rio after a shocking upset, the answer is simple.

- Today we just said “Let's have fun, it’s the best team in the world against us and we have nothing to lose. Let’s just show that we’re really good, so we didn’t respect them” gxx- said to Pley.gg following the massive victory at IEM Rio.

You can watch the entire interview in the video below.

gxx-

FaZe

Bad News Eagles

ENCE secured their spot at the Legends Stage after beating up the Kosovars of Bad News Eagles. ENCE were the massive favorites but it was not all fun and games for "Snappi" and co.

The brawl began on bNE's pick of Dust2, and early on, they were taught a lesson. ENCE, spearheaded by their leader "Snappi", outclassed the Kosovars in all aspects of the game. The only thing the Eagles had going for them was their impeccable aim, but that only got them three rounds in the first round.

After switching sides, the bNE squad had a massive resurgence. "gxx-" had come alive on the AWP and, in combination with "juanflatroo", and "rigoN", saw to it that the Eagles quickly equalized at 13-13. But the favorites of ENCE managed to come up clutch at the last moments of the map and steal the last three rounds away, and thereby the map.

bNE, on the CT side, found a good amount of success in the early stages of the second map of Nuke. "juanflatroo" was removing any attacker that came his way without exception. But with all of his teammates lagging behind individually, ENCE took the first half win at 9-6.

The Eagles won the second-half pistol round but did not find much more than that against the well-coordinated defense of ENCE.

Bad News Eagles will have another chance to qualify for the Legends Stage tomorrow, while ENCE can now relax.

ENCE - Bad News Eagles 2-0 | PGL Major Antwerp Challengers Stage

16-13 (Dust2) | {cflag:DK} Snappi - 1.24 Rating / 21-20 K-D / 85.1 ADR

16-9 (Nuke) | {cflag:IL} Spinx - 1.47 Rating / 26-13 K-D / 83.0 ADR

MVP: {cflag:IL} Lotan "Spinx" Giladi - 1.32 Rating / 49-29 K-D / 83.2 ADR

Snappi

juanflatroo

rigoN

Spinx

ENCE

There are eight spots left for the Antwerp Major next month. All of them are on the line in the European RMR Group B.

Here we give you a run-through of the teams, that we have placed in different brackets; Favorites, Contenders, and Outsiders. This article will feature our picks for the contender's category.

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 seems to have found a decent level with the addition of Asger "farlig" Jensen on the team. The Danish team has lost to all higher-ranked opponents lately but always in three maps, and never without a fighting chance. The form is on an upwards trend and it will be exciting to see if Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander can set the team up for success. The four-time Major winners should be able to make it through.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth will soon need to raise his level to stop all the talks about a possible replacement coming in. The legendary Dane is on a 12-event streak with an HLTV rating below 1.00.

were everybody's favorites at IEM Fall last year, where the Danes made upset after upset happen. The Danes seem to thrive in the bo1 format, which obviously is a huge factor coming into the event, where their seven-deep map pool also comes in handy. Their first match will be against Sprout, who is forced to play with their coach as a stand-in, which just increases the odds of a good start to the tournament for the Danes. 

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Fredrik "roeJ" Jørgensen is still performing excellently for the Danes, and he will again be the player to keep an eye on.

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 is the only pure French team left at the top of competitive CS:GO. The former DBL Poney-roster finally found themselves a home in HEET and will be desperate to qualify for the Major in the homeland of their new Organization. The Frenchmen have shown, that they are capable of beating higher ranked teams before taking down both OG and ENCE in 2022. Their first-round match against SINNERS is a must-win and could be the key to making a good run at the tournament.

Player to watch: {cflag:FR} Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro (in the picture above) is not only the highest-rated HEET player in 2022, but he is also by far the most experienced. The 25-year-old Frenchman has participated in six Majors, and knows all about what it takes to make the cut.

 is a new team in the CS:GO landscape, but the roster has loads of experience playing together on the BLINK team last year. The team from Kosovo could be one of the dark horses of the event, where the firepower of the roster could be a surprise to many. BNE has not only qualified for the RMR tournament but will also be present at the BLAST Premier Showdown tournament later this month.

Player to watch: Much is depending on the AWP of Genc "gxx-" Kolgeci, who is often the key to success for the Balkan roster.

 needs to be on the list. The players have more than deserved to be named among the contenders for qualification. But their recent form has left doubts about whether the CIS team is able to find their form. The situation in the world is probably not a helping factor for the Russian core, who is currently on a four-match losing streak. 

Player to watch: {cflag:RU} It was an Igor 'Forester' Bezotecheskiy vs Benjamin "blameF" Bremer show at the playoffs at ESL Pro League, where Entropiq and Astralis went head to head. Here Forester showed, that he is more than capable of standing up to the Danish fragger.

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Articles mentioning gxx-

gxx- after huge upset against FaZe: We did not respect them

ENCE Qualify For Legends Stage

European RMR Group B preview: The Contenders

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