DAMWON KIA defeated former Masters 2 Korean representatives NUTURN Gaming on Saturday, ensuring two new teams will represent the country in Berlin.
NUTURN Gaming has been eliminated from Masters 3 contention after they lost the VCT Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs in Korea. They were the only Korean representative at the first international LAN for Masters 2. To qualify for Masters 2, NUTURN had to defeat DAMWON in the grand final of VCT Challengers 2 to earn their spot. This time around, it was DAMWON doing the eliminating.
Despite being the only Korean team at Masters 2, NUTURN impressed many with their play style. They fought up until the end when they lost back-to-back matches against Sentinels and Fnatic. NUTURN outplayed high stock teams like Version1 and Team Liquid to earn that 3rd place finish. Now, we won’t know how far NUTURN can go at the Berlin Masters. NUTURN aren’t the only former Masters 2 representatives to miss out on Berlin. European team, Fnatic, who finished 2nd overall at Masters 2 won’t be attending Berlin either. They fell short during their qualifiers to make it to Challengers Playoffs for EMEA. Additionally, Version1, which finished in 5th place, will also not be attending the event.
New Korean representatives at Masters 3
With NUTURN out of the running after their loss to DAMWON, the two spots for Masters 3 are still up for grabs. There are four teams currently battling it out for the spot, and two of them are familiar faces. Both Vision Strikers and DAMWON gaming could attend Masters 3 if they win their matchups.
DAMWON came close to making it to Masters 2 before their run was stopped short by NUTURN. Vision Strikers, on the other hand, made a name for themselves after holding the record for the most consecutive wins and still falling on their swords before the main event. The other two teams still in the running are F4Q and TNL Esports, who made it there after beating out the two lower teams before them.
