Space Soldiers placed third in ESEA MDL Season 26 Europe following a 2-0 win over Virtus.pro (Cache 16-4, Mirage 16-13), qualifying for ESL Pro League Relegation as well as the Global Challenge LAN.

The playoffs of ESEA MDL Season 26 Europe have taken place over the course of the last three days. Virtus.pro and Space Soldiers both passed the quarter-finals but then fell to AGO and eXtatus, respectively, with the Turkish squad fielding Çağatay "⁠DESPE⁠" Sedef instead of Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca.

The two teams then met in the third-place decider, which had a spot in ESL Pro League Season 6 Relegation on the line alongside a place at the Season 26 Global Challenge, where the top sides of each region will meet at an undisclosed date.

Space Soldiers will get a chance to qualify for the next season of ESL Pro League

Despite fielding a stand-in again, Space Soldiers bested the Poles after just two maps, clinching Cache with ease, 16-4, and Mirage 16-13, with the team's stars, Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş and Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın, spearheading the way.

Virtus.pro have thus missed out on the second consecutive season of ESL Pro League after failing to qualify for Season 6 following a loss to PENTA in the previous season's relegation.

ESEA MDL Season 26 EuropeBest of 3 Virtus.proMatchpage 0 2 16th November 2017 Space Soldiers 4Cache 16 13Mirage 16 News tags:

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Paweł 'byali' Bielińskibyali	37 - 37	0	80.3	1.01
Janusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiSnax	31 - 35	-4	71.2	0.98
Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps	32 - 40	-8	71.2	0.83
Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasTaZ	22 - 34	-12	53.7	0.75
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	17 - 39	-22	56.8	0.63

Space Soldiers	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Buğra 'Calyx' ArkınCalyx	49 - 24	+25	104.8	1.63
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	44 - 30	+14	98.1	1.52
Engin 'ngiN' KorngiN	39 - 30	+9	82.5	1.28
Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliMAJ3R	28 - 31	-3	62.7	0.97
Çağatay 'DESPE' SedefDESPE	25 - 24	+1	51.3	0.96

ESEA MDL Season 26 EuropeBest of 3 Virtus.proMatchpage 0 2 16th November 2017 Space Soldiers 4Cache 16 13Mirage 16

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Paweł 'byali' Bielińskibyali	37 - 37	0	80.3	1.01
Janusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiSnax	31 - 35	-4	71.2	0.98
Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps	32 - 40	-8	71.2	0.83
Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasTaZ	22 - 34	-12	53.7	0.75
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	17 - 39	-22	56.8	0.63

Space Soldiers	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Buğra 'Calyx' ArkınCalyx	49 - 24	+25	104.8	1.63
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	44 - 30	+14	98.1	1.52
Engin 'ngiN' KorngiN	39 - 30	+9	82.5	1.28
Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliMAJ3R	28 - 31	-3	62.7	0.97
Çağatay 'DESPE' SedefDESPE	25 - 24	+1	51.3	0.96

ESL Pro League Season 6 Europe Relegation will feature the following teams:

Natus Vincere	GODSENT
Space Soldiers	Loser of AGO/eXtatus

ESEA Season 26 Global Challenge teams are the following:

AGO	eXtatus
Space Soldiers	Ghost Academy
GX	Rise Nation
SoaR	Australia Premier #1

The grand final between eXtatus and AGO, which will determine the team advancing directly to ESL Pro League Season 7, will be played at a later date.

Virtus.pro #6 Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasFilip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiJanusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiPaweł 'byali' Bieliński eXtatus #40 Richard 'queztone' StrnátkoJindřich 'ZEDKO' ChybaPatrik 'DEV7L' StuchlíkDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýMartin 'MonttY' Melišek Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş Age: 22 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 1.25 Maps played: 633 KPR: 0.89 DPR: 0.69 Ghost Academy #98 Bryan 'MAKKA' DrouillardAndrew 'ShoT_UP' OrlowskiChad 'Oderus' MillerJason 'neptune' TranJarod 'Douglas' Onorato Ahmet 'paz' Karahoca Age: 20 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 466 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.64 AGO #24 Damian 'Furlan' KislowskiDominik 'GruBy' SwiderskiMichał 'snatchie' RudzkiMateusz 'TOAO' ZawistowskiTomasz 'phr' Wójcik Space Soldiers #18 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAhmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' Kor Çağatay 'DESPE' Sedef Age: 24 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 447 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.64 Rise Nation #41 Andy 'vSa' XuWill 'dazzLe' LoafmanJonathan 'Jonji' CareyKaleb 'moose' JayneBrandon 'Ace' Winn Natus Vincere #16 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov GODSENT #33 Simon 'twist' EliassonJoakim 'disco doplan' GidetunFredrik 'freddieb' Buö GX #75 Braxton 'swag' PierceKeven 'AZK' LariviereShawn 'witmer' TaylorMatt 'Pollo' WilsonMichael 'dapr' Gulino SoaR #59 Matthew 'mCe' ElmoreJack 'xCeeD' HolimanLogan 'Voltage' LongRyan 'Snakes' AmannMichael 'Grim' Wince PENTA #31 Kevin 'kRYSTAL' AmendMiikka 'suNny' KemppiPaweł 'innocent' MocekKevin 'HS' TarnJesse 'zehN' Linjala Buğra 'Calyx' Arkın Age: 19 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 458 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.61