WePlay Academy League Season 3 Finalists Are Here

Following two weeks of grueling battles in the WePlay Academy League Season 3 group stage, four teams rose up and secured a spot in the LAN Finals. BIG Academy, MOUZ NXT, Astralis Talent, and Spirit Academy are all through and set to attend the $88,000 tournament in February.

The We Play Academy League Season 3 kicked off on January 3, featuring 10 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports teams. The list of participants included Astralis Talent, BIG Academy, Fnatic Rising, FURIA Academy, MOUZ NXT, Natus Vincere Junior, Young Ninjas, VP.Prodigy, Spirit Academy, and Eternal Fire Academy.

The tournament kicked off with a handful of unexpected results, bringing some chaos to the league standings. It seemed like any team could beat anyone, but some order was finally established as the tournament went on.

Group A, which included BIG Academy, Young Ninjas, Astralis Talent, NaVi Jr., and Fnatic Rising, was close. BIG Academy took first place with a 5-3 record and a +8 map difference, slightly above Young Ninjas, who managed the same 5-3 record, albeit a marginally worse map difference (+7).

Behind the two were Natus Vincere Junior and Fnatic Rising, who ended the group stage tied at 4-4. And then there were Astralis Talent, who managed only two wins (2-6) and a -14 map difference.

Group B was much more straightforward. It featured MOUZ NXT, Spirit Academy, FURIA Academy, VP.Prodigy, and Eternal Fire Academy, and it was soon clear which two teams would finish on top.

Group B ended with MOUZ NXT taking first place with a 7-1 record, followed by Spirit academy with a 6-2 record. Behind the two were Eternal Fire Academy and VP.Prodigy with 3-5, and FURIA Academy, who ended in last place with a 1-7 record.

The top two teams from their respective groups (BIG Academy and MOUZ NXT) got a direct bye into the LAN playoffs. Meanwhile, the remaining CS:GO esports teams got seeded into the Play-In stage based on their group placement.

The second-placed teams were awarded a direct ticket into the Play-In finals. Third-placed teams advanced into the semis, and the fourth-fifth placed teams kicked off their quest for the WePlay academy League S3 Finals in the quarter-finals.

In the bottom bracket, there weren’t as many surprises. VP.Prodigy beat FURIA in round one and edged past Eternal Fire Academy (2-1) in the semis.

However, they proved to be no match for Spirit Academy, who beat them 2-0 in the final round and booked a spot for the LAN event.
Meanwhile, the top bracket produced a handful of unexpected results.

And all the eyes were on Astralis Talent, who found their stride and went on to produce a miracle run.

The Danes first eliminated Fnatic Rising (2-1) and added an upset win against last season’s finalists NaVi Jr. (2-1). In the end, the Danes breezed past Group A runners-up, Young Ninjas (2-0), and, with that, booked a spot in the final tournament of the season.

The WePlay Academy League Season 3 will conclude with the LAN finals, slated for February 11-13. The season-culminating event will occur at WePlay Esports Arena in Kyiv, Ukraine, and feature an $88,000 prize pool.

The champions will take home $45,000 winner’s share, with the runners-up collecting a $20,000 consolation prize. The third and fourth-placed teams will take home $15,000 and $8,000, respectively.

The tournament organizers have yet to reveal the tournament’s seeding. But we can safely assume which teams have the best chance to go all the way.

Although BIG Academy, Astralis Talent, Spirit Academy, and MOUZ NXT all earned the right to attend the event, it’s hard to look past MOUZ NXT as the clear favorites to win the trophy. The European CS:GO esports team are the two-time WePlay Academy League champions and look set to hoist their third trophy.

Not only have MOUZ NXT dominated their group, but the team has also done well in some higher-tier tournaments towards the end of 2021. Whether they will manage to translate their form to the finals remains to be seen, but MOUZ look to be in a good spot to win the event.

Meanwhile, Astralis Talent will hope to continue their miracle run and upset the field once more. But given their hiccups during the group stage, Astralis are likely going to enter the tournament as one of the outsiders.