eXTREMESLAND 2024 Playoffs: Preview

With ATOX taking down Nalakuvara in the final Group stage game, all eight Playoff teams at the eXTREMESLAND Asia Open 2024 were confirmed with Rare Atom and TYLOO being the only two home teams remaining in front of the crowd in Shanghai.

Along with the two Chinese teams, we have two teams from Mongolia in ATOX and Chinggis Warriors, two teams from the MENA region in XO and JiJieHao while SemperFi represents the OCE region and Real Original being the sole team from Thailand still in the tournament.

Before the quarter-finals kick off on January 18, 2025, here's a quick look at the quarter-final matches.

Rare Atom vs Real Original

Rare Atom were the first team to make the Playoffs and the highest-ranked team at the event made their way out of Group A, taking down Chinggis Warriors and Gods Reign in their two group stage games. Rare Atom on the other hand will face Thailand's Real Original, who started their campaign with a big 13-5 win over Blaze Warriors before getting blown away by XO. With their backs against the wall, the Thai team fought back and took down Blaze Warriors in the decider game in a clean 2-0 fashion.

While Rare Atom are the overwhelming favourites, Real Original would be coming in without any pressure and they will also know that Rare Atom are yet to play a BO3 in the event.

XO vs Chinggis Warriors

Middle Eastern-mix XO has been one of the surprises of the event, given how dominant they have been and XO have won both their group games in a commanding manner, taking 13-3 wins in both games. While XO have been one of the finds of the event, they are yet to be tested in a BO3 encounter and have only played Dust2 in both their games.

Taking on XO will be Chinggis Warriors, who had to huff and puff their way to the quarter-finals. The Mongolian team started their campaign with a big win over dreamScape but fell to Rare Atom in a close overtime encounter. Falling to the decider game, Chinggis Warriors were almost sent home by Indian team Gods Reign but managed to hold on to make it to the Playoffs.

TYLOO vs ATOX

One of the most exciting quarter-final clashes will be the TYLOO vs ATOX encounter. The second highest ranked team at the event, TYLOO breezed through the Group stages, taking down SemperFi and IHC with JamYoung having a stellar showing across both maps. Going up against TYLOO will be Mongolian powerhouses ATOX. ATOX started their journey with a dominating win over South Korean squad Miracle Play but were stunned by JiJieHao which dropped them to the lower bracket. ATOX fought through against home team Nalakuvara to make the Playoffs and with the Mongolian team finding form, this encounter should be an exciting clash.

JiJieHao vs SemperFi

The final quarter-final will have JiJieHao take on OCE's SemperFi. JiJieHao put in two commanding performances in their group stage BO1 games against Nalakuvara and ATOX to make the Playoffs, with the Middle-Eastern mix squad surprising many with their performance against ATOX.

Taking on JiJieHao will be Australian team SemperFi, who had to battle it out through the lower bracket, against the odds to make the Playoffs. SemperFi suffered a big loss to TYLOO in their opening game before taking down ONi and then surprising IHC in the Group C decider game to make the quarter-finals.