Yellow Submarine beat Kalmychata 2-0 on Tuesday 13 October in the second upper bracket quarterfinal of the DreamLeague Eastern Europe Closed Qualifier for season 30. The best-of-three was the opening day’s business in a qualifier that runs until 15 October, and it ended with the favourites advancing without dropping a game.
It was the second time in less than a month that the two sides had met. On 19 September, in European Pro League Season 40, Yellow Submarine also won 2-0. Kalmychata have now lost four straight games to them across those two series.
A 61-minute opener, then a quicker finish
The first game was a long one. Yellow Submarine needed 61 minutes to close it out, a length that points to Kalmychata staying in contention well past the usual mid-game mark before conceding the map.
The second was settled in 42 minutes. That was 19 minutes shorter than the opener, and it gave Yellow Submarine the series without a deciding third game.
The gap between the teams in the Elo power rankings made this the expected outcome. Yellow Submarine sit 23rd with a rating of 1739 and a 159-114 record from 273 rated matches. Kalmychata are 56th on 1594, with 93 wins and 79 defeats from 172 rated matches. No upset, then.
Kalmychata’s losing run reaches three
For the Russian-based side, the defeat extends a difficult spell. Before this qualifier they lost 0-2 to Team Lynx and 1-2 to Team Synapse in European Pro League Season 40, which makes three series defeats in a row. Earlier in that same competition they had beaten Nemiga Gaming 2-0 and Two Move 2-1.
Because this was an upper bracket tie, the result does not end their qualifier. Kalmychata move into the lower bracket, where Nemiga Gaming will also be after a 2-0 loss to HULIGANI in the first quarterfinal.
Yellow Submarine’s own form has been uneven. In the PARI Universe Closed Qualifier they beat CyberHero 2-0 but then lost 0-2 to Team Synapse and 1-2 to Blasterbl. They have since recovered, beating Nemiga Gaming 2-0 in the EPL Masters Play-In before this sweep. That is two series wins in a row, both without conceding a game.
HULIGANI wait on the same day
The win sends Yellow Submarine straight into another upper bracket meeting, this time against HULIGANI, who were equally ruthless against Nemiga Gaming. Both sides arrive having won their quarterfinals 2-0.
The turnaround is short. That match is also scheduled for Tuesday 13 October, with a place in the upper bracket final of the Eastern Europe qualifier at stake.
