Two teams have made it into the playoffs and one dropped out of the tournament after the first day of play at the ESEA Global Challenge Season 23 Finals. The two teams topping their groups were LDLC and Kinguin, the two favorites, while TSM was sent home after losses to Bravado and Rogue.

Not much of a sweat on the first day of play for Kinguin 

LDLC started their day out by beating the Danish-Bulgarian team Rogue on Overpass by a hefty 16-5 in a solid group effort and with all five players holding their own on the server against a team that just didn't seem to be up to par. 

The Belgian leader Kévin "⁠Ex6TenZ⁠" Droolans and his team then went on to beat Bravado in the group A winners’ match. They played Overpass once again and were able to take on the South Africans without much trouble, closing the match out with an ample 16-4 score line at the end largely powered by the Belgian duo Ex6TenZ and the young sniper Antoine "⁠to1nou⁠" Pirard.

ESEA Season 23 MDL Global ChallengeBest of 1 BravadoMatchpage 4 16 6th January 2017 LDLC 4Overpass 16

Bravado	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Roberto 'blackpoisoN' Dall'OccoblackpoisoN	13 - 18	-5	75.6	0.81
Ashton 'Golz' MullerGolz	7 - 15	-8	57.9	0.67
Aran 'Sonic' GroesbeekSonic	8 - 18	-10	53.5	0.60
Dimitri 'Detrony' HadjipaschaliDetrony	8 - 17	-9	45.3	0.56
Ruan 'ELUSIVE' van WykELUSIVE	7 - 17	-10	46.0	0.53

LDLC	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Kévin 'Ex6TenZ' DroolansEx6TenZ	22 - 8	+14	122.3	1.86
Antoine 'to1nou' Pirardto1nou	23 - 8	+15	95.7	1.81
Alexandre 'xms' Fortéxms	15 - 10	+5	81.2	1.36
Alex 'ALEX' McMeekinALEX	16 - 9	+7	76.6	1.33
Valentin 'mistou' Balbastromistou	9 - 9	0	60.5	1.03

The other team to go through the group stage in only two matches was one of the three European teams and one of the favorites, Kinguin. They started their journey playing Muffin Lightning—considered the weakest team at the tournament next to RUSH, and playing with a stand-in—on Overpass.

The Polish side only gave up 6 rounds with Mikołaj "⁠mouz⁠" Karolewski plowing through the North American team ending the map with 134.3 ADR and 28 frags in 22 rounds for a 1.83 rating. They ended their day with another one-sided map, beating Tainted Minds 16-9 on Cache to take first place in group B.

ESEA Season 23 MDL Global ChallengeBest of 1 Tainted MindsMatchpage 9 16 7th January 2017 Kinguin 9Cache 16

Tainted Minds	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jay 'Liazz' TregillgasLiazz	19 - 16	+3	81.5	1.13
Jesse 'InfrequeNt' BarkerInfrequeNt	17 - 20	-3	75.6	0.99
Travis 'wizard' Richardsonwizard	14 - 20	-6	79.3	0.95
Connor 'chuch' Morganchuch	13 - 17	-4	55.0	0.76
Stuart 'sonic' Raynersonic	14 - 21	-7	71.5	0.72

Kinguin	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Michał 'MICHU' MüllerMICHU	30 - 16	+14	122.1	1.80
Grzegorz 'SZPERO' DziamałekSZPERO	20 - 12	+8	71.5	1.32
Damian 'Furlan' KislowskiFurlan	17 - 18	-1	85.4	1.20
Karol 'rallen' Rodowiczrallen	13 - 16	-3	62.7	0.99
Mikołaj 'mouz' Karolewskimouz	14 - 15	-1	68.0	0.98

On the other side of the balance, Rogue and TSM played the best-of-three group A elimination match after their losses to LDLC and Bravado respectively.

The match started on Train, Rogue’s pick. The map favored the European side who showed a much tighter chemistry and had both Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and Kamen "⁠bubble⁠" Kostadinov putting in over 100 ADR each to close the map out 16-4.

bubble’s side were able to beat TSM and stay alive in the tournament

Finally, the first disputed map of the day came on Dust2, TSM’s pick. The Danish-Bulgarian side started on the CT side, only being able to put in 5 rounds against a dominant TSM that were able to use individual ability and a puggy style to get ahead.

With the tables turned, though, TSM struggled putting together strong setups as Rogue managed to squeeze ahead in some of the important rounds to bring it to a 12-12 ahead of the last stretch of the match. With the momentum on their side, the European team was then able to push through and take the second map 16-12 against the North Americans.

ESEA Season 23 MDL Global ChallengeBest of 3 TSMMatchpage 0 2 7th January 2017 Rogue 4Train 16 12Dust2 16

TSM	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Hunter 'SicK' MimsSicK	46 - 36	+10	98.5	1.34
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	32 - 36	-4	70.1	0.96
Pujan 'FNS' MehtaFNS	23 - 37	-14	65.9	0.80
Skyler 'Relyks' WeaverRelyks	22 - 38	-16	45.1	0.62
Kory 'SEMPHIS' FriesenSEMPHIS	14 - 43	-29	49.3	0.40

Rogue	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	46 - 27	+19	96.4	1.50
Kamen 'bubble' Kostadinovbubble	40 - 25	+15	92.3	1.41
Jesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannTENZKI	37 - 27	+10	73.2	1.24
Viktor 'v1c7oR' Dyankovv1c7oR	31 - 30	+1	84.8	1.22
Nicolai 'glace' Jensenglace	36 - 28	+8	70.4	1.18

Tomorrow, Rush and Muffin Lightning will play the elimination match for a spot in the group B decider where the winner will face Tainted Minds. Despite winning their opener, the Oceanic team has been waiting for a rival in the decider match since losing to the group winners, Kinguin.

The group A decider match will be played after the group B elimination match, and it will pit tonight’s winners, Rogue, against Bravado. Rogue will then be able to take another crack at the South African team, who beat the European combine in their opening match.