Win Scrims Not Matches and eUnited booked their place in the IEM Sydney North America closed qualifier after placing in the top two of the first open qualifier.

The first open qualifier for IEM Syndey in North America saw several notable teams drop out of the tournament, with the likes of INTZ, Spacestation, and South Africans Denial fall early in the best-of-one stages.

TeamOne topped Denial 16-12 and then defeated their compatriots INTZ in an overtime thriller to reach the decider, while Win Scrims Not Matches smacked Spacestation to enter the best-of-three skirmish.

floppy & co. turn heads as they advance to the closed portion

The series began with a highly contested battle on Dust2, as Win Scrims Not Matches got their wits together late in the second half to take the edge over TeamOne 16-14. With the series landing on Train, things quickly soured for the North American side, as Bruno "⁠BIT⁠" Fukuda Lima and his men remained in the driver's seat to force the decider. The series came down to Mirage, where another close game ensued, but, in the end, Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery shone with a 1.44 rating in the 16-14 map victory. promoting his squad to the closed qualifier.

IEM Sydney 2019 North America Open Qualifier 1Best of 3 TeamOneMatchpage 1 2 1st February 2019 Win Scrims Not Matches 14Dust2 16 16Train 10 14Mirage 16

TeamOne	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Alencar 'trk' Rossatotrk	65 - 50	+15	83.3	1.23
Pedro 'Maluk3' CamposMaluk3	64 - 52	+12	74.5	1.18
Victor 'iDk' TorracaiDk	61 - 59	+2	82.0	1.11
Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda LimaBIT	50 - 56	-6	70.0	0.99
Nicolas 'NikoM' MiozziNikoM	40 - 56	-16	63.3	0.82

Win Scrims Not Matches	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ricky 'floppy' Kemeryfloppy	74 - 56	+18	94.6	1.40
Ben 'ben1337' Smithben1337	52 - 57	-5	68.0	0.99
Brenden 'stellar' McGrathstellar	57 - 55	+2	71.0	0.98
Casey 'SideStep' HartzlerSideStep	46 - 58	-12	59.7	0.88
Josh 'PwnAlone' PiguePwnAlone	43 - 54	-11	59.2	0.82

On the other side of the bracket, Singularity eliminated Swole Patrol 16-4 to reach the decider, while eUnited earned their place in the best-of-three after easing past Hysteria and Cyclone.

In the decider, Singularity dominated early on Inferno, but Austin "⁠Cooper⁠" Abadir & co. came back from a 0-6 deficit to seal a 16-14 victory on the opening map.

cooper- and his men reach the closed qualifier with the help of Subroza

Gage "⁠Infinite⁠" Green and his men then crushed their opponents 16-1 on Overpass, but, in the end, the squad came up short in the decider, as Michael "⁠dapr⁠" Gulino led the way with a 1.72 rating on Mirage to help send eUnited to the closed qualifier.

IEM Sydney 2019 North America Open Qualifier 1Best of 3 SingularityMatchpage 1 2 1st February 2019 eUnited 14Inferno 16 16Overpass 1 10Mirage 16

Singularity	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Josh 'oSee' OhmoSee	52 - 42	+10	75.9	1.18
Ryan 'ryann' Welshryann	49 - 43	+6	75.3	1.16
Gage 'Infinite' GreenInfinite	51 - 47	+4	79.9	1.12
Ian 'motm' Hardymotm	53 - 45	+8	73.5	1.09
Cameron 'cam' Kerncam	41 - 48	-7	66.6	0.86

eUnited	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Austin 'Cooper' AbadirCooper	55 - 43	+12	72.9	1.20
Michael 'dapr' Gulinodapr	53 - 44	+9	75.4	1.16
Kaleb 'moose' Jaynemoose	40 - 49	-9	65.7	0.92
Yassine 'Subroza' TaoufikSubroza	38 - 58	-20	68.4	0.89
Will 'dazzLe' LoafmandazzLe	38 - 52	-14	60.4	0.80

With the first open qualifier in the books, two more teams will join the four invitees in the second leg of open qualifiers, which is set to take place this weekend, from February 2-3.

The team list of the closed qualifier currently looks as follows:

Envy
Complexity
eUnited
Open Qual. 2 Ghost
Luminosity
Win Scrims Not Matches
Open Qual. 2

Registration for the second open qualifier is still available on ESEA's website, with signups closing just one hour before the start of the tournament.

INTZ #39 Vito 'kNgV-' GiuseppeAlexandre 'xand' ZiziLucas 'destiny' BulloGustavo 'yel' KnittelMarcelo 'chelo' Cespedes Michael 'dapr' Gulino Age: 20 Team: eUnited Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 407 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.66 Swole Patrol #225 Braxton 'swag' PierceVictor 'food' WongEdgar 'MarKE' MaldonadoAnthony 'vanity' Malaspina Hysteria Jeremy 'Mundle' KingAlexander 'knightmare' SozziMalick 'dangle' AbidEric 'HIA' BoggsJordon 'jitter' Ruggiero Ricky 'floppy' Kemery Age: 19 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 177 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.69 Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima Age: 28 Team: TeamOne Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 333 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.65 Envy #37 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenStephen 'reltuC' CutlerJosh 'jdm64' MarzanoNoah 'Nifty' FrancisTaylor 'Drone' Johnson TeamOne #45 Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda LimaPedro 'Maluk3' CamposNicolas 'NikoM' MiozziVictor 'iDk' TorracaAlencar 'trk' Rossato Singularity #53 Ryan 'ryann' WelshCameron 'cam' KernIan 'motm' HardyJosh 'oSee' OhmGage 'Infinite' Green Luminosity #30 Lucas 'steel' LopesHenrique 'HEN1' TelesLucas 'LUCAS1' TelesRicardo 'boltz' PrassGabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato Complexity #36 Jordan 'n0thing' GilbertShahzeb 'ShahZaM' KhanRory 'dephh' JacksonPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzRicardo 'Rickeh' Mulholland Ghost #15 Joshua 'steel' NissanRyan 'freakazoid' AbadirKenneth 'koosta' SuenMatthew 'WARDELL' YuJason 'neptune' Tran Cyclone Matthew 'nero' Seymour Win Scrims Not Matches #75 Ricky 'floppy' KemeryBrenden 'stellar' McGrathBen 'ben1337' SmithJosh 'PwnAlone' PigueCasey 'SideStep' Hartzler eUnited #47 Will 'dazzLe' LoafmanMichael 'dapr' GulinoKaleb 'moose' JayneAustin 'Cooper' Abadir Gage 'Infinite' Green Age: 20 Team: Singularity Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 285 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.66 Spacestation #70 David 'DAVEY' StaffordChad 'Oderus' MillerAnthony 'gMd' GuimondRyan 'Snakes' AmannMichael 'Grim' Wince Denial #31 Ruan 'ELUSIVE' van WykAran 'Sonic' GroesbeekRhys 'Fadey' ArmstrongJohnny 'JT' Theodosiou Austin 'Cooper' Abadir Age: 24 Team: eUnited Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 311 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.63