Free Fire City Open: City Play-Ins Finals Recap

The hunt for the new faces of Free Fire has reached its peak. The stage is set for the fresh talents from all across the country to face the champions that currently rule the competitive landscape. We just concluded the Free Fire City Open Play-Ins Finals. The final two teams to qualify for the National Finals are Team Elite and Raven Esports. Team Elite asserted their dominance from the get-go, but Raven Esports had a difficult path to the finals. They overtook the opposition in the last game to secure themselves a spot in the National Finals. Let’s take a look at their journey. 

Team Elite… just doing what they always do.

They were obviously the heavy favourite going into yesterday’s matches, but how they clutched some of these matches made our jaws drop. They had a decent start in the first game in Bermuda as they wiped out two squads and got 9 kills. TE - Killer racked a triple kill to finish off Godlike with his M1887. Unfortunately, while he was popping off, his teammates were killed by Asin Clutchgods, and he was the only one alive. Asin Clutchgods rushed his hut to finish him, but Killer cocooned himself inside Gloo Walls and threw grenades to make sure they can’t enter. They too gave up on the idea of finishing him off and focused on the bigger fish by rushing into the zone and fighting off Raven Esports and Slumber Queen. Asin Clutchgods thought they left Killer to his doom, but he healed up the zone damage and jumped out to get the last kill after the other teams had finished slaughtering each other. 

Team Elite won the first booyah despite a severe disadvantage and won a match that they had no business winning. While this win was a bit labored, Team Elite showed us that they can win matches without breaking a sweat too. They racked up a second win on Purgatory as well. 

This time, Team Elite was set up in the perfect location and the fourth circle moved in their favour. A lot of teams were about to move out of Brazilia, so Team Elite extended a bit outside the zone to feast on this great migration. But while they were busy out there picking up frags, Asin Clutchgods sneakily moved in from behind them just as the fifth circle spawned, and stole the zone advantage away from Team Elite. Realizing that they have been outmaneuvered, Team Elite came up with the convenient strategy to simply outgun them. 

With a dominant booyah in the second game, Team Elite set their sights even higher. In Match 3 - Kalahari, they embarked on a journey to quench their bloodlust. Their thirst for violence landed them 17 kills along with their third booyah - A Hattrick! Hardly a new feat for Team Elite. 

Asin Clutchgods dominated the lobby as well, but Elite was in a league of their own

Asin Clutchgods finished second on Bermuda and Purgatory. Team Elite stole away the booyah from them twice. But they were persistent and managed to get a top 3 finish in Kalahari. By this time, Team Elite had put up a massive difference and was practically untouchable. Asin Clutchgods with their consistent high placements too had secured an acceptable lead and were nested at second place in the overall standings. 

Halfway through the day, most would have assumed that we found the two teams that would make it to the National Finals. The status quo did not change. Both Team Elite and Asin Clutchgod’s rankings didn’t change up until the last game. 

Other contenders won Matches 4 and 5. Raven Esports won a booyah in the fourth match and climbed up the ladder slowly. In the Fifth match, Team Revolution won the booyah and also began their ascent; while Raven Esports managed a top 3 finish, and inched closer to Asin Clutchgods. Closer to the National Finals spot. ACG had a lead of six points over Raven Esports. It wasn’t a lot but would suffice if ACG did not crash and burn early. 

Unfortunately, that is exactly what they did

The moment ACG landed in the treacherous Maze area in Kalahari, 4Xtraordinary made it their duty to hunt them down. This early game war cost ACG their lives and paved the way for Raven Esports to surge forward. 

Raven Esports finished third in Kalahari, gathering more than enough points to overtake ACG and steal the National Finals slot. While they did manage to qualify, they got a taste of what true power means as Team Elite was bullying and terrorizing the lobby. They sliced and diced their opponents with Scythes, giving life to the term “bringing a knife to the gunfight”. Team Elite went for ridiculously disrespectful plays to humiliate their opponents. They wiped out Raven Esports so quickly that they did not even have time to react. Even after pulling off insane stunts, Team Elite pulled off the win. 

Team Elite sent a loud message with 121 points that they are not to be trifled with. Raven Esports displayed cunningness and deceit as they too will move on to the National Finals. They will be joining the other champions who qualified from their respective City and Wildcard Finals. 

On 15th August, all these wonderful teams from all over the country will duke it out for the grand prize pool. Underdogs will meet the titans, Davids will be pitted against Goliaths. The hunt for the fresh face of Indian Free Fire will reach its climax at 6 PM on our Free Fire Esports India YouTube channel. Book the date and watch to support your favourite teams!

For more information regarding Free Fire City Open, please visit https://ffco.garena.com/