NAVI Junior, Spirit Academy lead as WePlay Academy League group stage concludes

The 14-team event has been whittled down, with just eight squads still in the running.

The WePlay Academy League Season 6 group stage has officially drawn to a close after two weeks of competition. The tournament is now set to transition into the play-in, which gets started on Sunday, October 30, from where just two teams will be able to clinch a playoff berth.

The reigning champions of WePlay Academy League, fnatic Rising, are still in contention to defend their crown. The European combine locked in their spot in the play-in after finishing Group A in third place with a 7-5 record.

fnatic Rising will be aiming to secure back-to-back first-place finishes

NAVI Junior, who continue to field the transfer-listed Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov, and Spirit Academy had the most dominant runs through the opening round of play. The two teams put up 8-4 and 9-3 records in Group A and B, respectively, to bypass the play-in stage and advance directly to the playoffs. Their runs were far from easy, however, as both sides often had to break a sweat to get their much-needed victories on the board.

Read more fnatic Rising claim WePlay Academy League Season 5 title

MOUZ NXT are also in with a shot at taking home both the trophy and first-place prize of $45,000. The new-look roster, whose organisation are four-time WePlay Academy League winners, booked themselves a spot in the play-in after finishing Group A as the second seed with a 7-5 record. Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo was key in earning his team a slot in the next stage, averaging a tournament-high 1.32 rating throughout the groups.

A notable absence from the knockout portion of the competition is BIG Academy. The roster, who secured a podium finish in the last iteration of the tournament, struggled to get anything going this time around, and now head home in 9-10th place after putting up a modest 5-7 showing.

Teams who finished in 2-4th place of their respective group will now be thrown into the play-in, where just two spots for the playoffs are up for grabs. MOUZ NXT and Young Ninjas, who won the Group B third-place decider, will start the play-in from the second round thanks to their runners-up group-stage finishes. fnatic Rising, OG Academy, PROSPECTS, and Astralis Talent, meanwhile, will all start their quests for a place in the playoffs from the first round.

The final standings from the group stage are:

Group A TEAM M P NAVI Junior 12 24 MOUZ NXT 12 21 fnatic Rising 12 21 OG Academy 12 21 FURIA Academy 12 15 Flames Ascent 12 12 Apeks Rebels 12 12 Group B TEAM M P Spirit Academy 12 27 Young Ninjas 13 27 Astralis Talent 13 24 PROSPECTS 12 21 BIG Academy 12 15 ENCE Academy 12 12 MIBR Academy 12 3

The play-in kicks off on Sunday, October 30, and will feature the following matchups:

Date	Matches
WePlay Academy League Season 6
30/10/2022	fnatic Rising15:15 PROSPECTS	Match
30/10/2022	Astralis Talent17:30 OG Academy	Match
31/10/2022	Young Ninjas15:00 PROSPECTS	Match
31/10/2022	MOUZ NXT17:10 OG Academy	Match

Spirit Academy #138 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovOleg 'baz' Kulynych Flames Ascent #156 Emil 'fez' KristensenSigurd 'buNNy' FritzbøgerAllan 'Speedy' SørensenAndreas 'Hansi' Schougaard HansenDavid 'Inspire' Rasmussen Christoffer 'ko5te' Kostelac Apeks Rebels #249 Ådne 'sense' FredriksenViktor 'vhw' WadmanTobias 'berzerk' BertelsenPatrik 'Brave' KarlsenSindre 'Tapewaare' Ellefsen Torbjørn 'mithR' Nyborg OG Academy #167 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerSlaven 'AwaykeN' Lyubenov Christian 'crisby' Schmitt Young Ninjas #94 Sean 'eraa' KnutssonAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmErik 'ztr' GustafssonLinus 'nilo' BergmanMax 'maxster' Jansson Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo Age: 16 Team: MOUZ NXT Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 160 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.64 OG Academy #167 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerSlaven 'AwaykeN' Lyubenov fnatic Rising #61 Adam 'WolfY' AnderssonPeppe 'Peppzor' BorakMikkel 'Maze' SparvathSebastian 'volt' MaloșMatias 'Banjo' Kivistö Astralis Talent #92 Kristoffer 'Kristou' AamandNicklas 'jarko' RasmussenAlexander 'Altekz' GivskovAlexander 'br0' BroPatrick 'Patti' Larsen Daniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov Age: 18 Team: NAVI JuniorB Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 117 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.62 Astralis Talent #92 Kristoffer 'Kristou' AamandNicklas 'jarko' RasmussenAlexander 'Altekz' GivskovAlexander 'br0' BroPatrick 'Patti' Larsen René 'cajunb' Borg NAVI Junior #116 Daniil 'headtr1ck' ValitovDmytro 'dem0n' MyroshnychenkoAdam 'froz1k' NahornyiRuslan 'yab0ku-' KekotAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi FURIA Academy #150 Leonardo 'zmb' ToledoKaue 'kauez' KaschukLucas 'decenty' BacelarBruno 'Bruninho' RodriguesJoão 'koala' Pfeffer Leonardo 'msr' Caixeta NAVI Junior #116 Daniil 'headtr1ck' ValitovDmytro 'dem0n' MyroshnychenkoAdam 'froz1k' NahornyiRuslan 'yab0ku-' KekotAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi Igor 'crush' Shevchenko ENCE Academy #151 Veeti 'S1rva' SirvaHenri 'HENU' YlilehtoYoussef 'juissi' AdamVille 'myltsi' VilkmanPaavo 'podi' Heiskanen George 'Whitey' White MOUZ NXT #119 Marcus 'Q-Q' Krolak-HenriksenJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloBram 'Nexius' CampanaAdelin 'adeX' NicaChristoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard Tobias 'TOBIZ' Theo BIG Academy #80 Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschDavid 'prosus' HesseTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' Köhn Markus 'Anhuin' Paeseler MIBR Academy #194 Cauã 'card' CardosoLucas 'lub' BaracatRawan 'beg0d' TavaresFelipe 'insani' YujiHenzo 'spinnie' Macri Pedro 'betinho' Umberto Young Ninjas #94 Sean 'eraa' KnutssonAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmErik 'ztr' GustafssonLinus 'nilo' BergmanMax 'maxster' Jansson Ahmed 'abdi' Abdi PROSPECTS #95 Alexander 'AlekS' AnderssonGustav 'FRANSSON' FranssonOlle 'spooke' GrundströmJohan 'hype' EngblomJonatan 'bobeksde' Persson Dennis 'Rytter' Rytter PROSPECTS #95 Alexander 'AlekS' AnderssonGustav 'FRANSSON' FranssonOlle 'spooke' GrundströmJohan 'hype' EngblomJonatan 'bobeksde' Persson MOUZ NXT #119 Marcus 'Q-Q' Krolak-HenriksenJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloBram 'Nexius' CampanaAdelin 'adeX' NicaChristoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard BIG Academy #80 Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschDavid 'prosus' HesseTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' Köhn Spirit Academy #138 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovOleg 'baz' Kulynych Dmitry 'S0tF1k' Forostyanko