MOUZ NXT out of contention as WePlay Academy League Season 5 reaches play

The four-time Academy League champions are not among the names left standing as the league nears playoffs.

Season 5 of WePlay's Academy League has reached the end of its group stage, seeing six teams sent packing from the tournament while fnatic Rising and BIG Academy secured spots in the playoffs by topping their respective groups.

BIG Academy had by far the most dominant run through the early stage of the tournament, dropping just one best-of-one match to Young Ninjas while often beating their opponents in dominant fashion to secure their berth. fnatic Rising, meanwhile, had a harder time of things in what ended up being the closer group, managing to edge into first place with an 8-4 record following a crucial win over NAVI Junior.

BIG Academy were dominant in the group stage

The six teams that weren't eliminated — the second to fourth place ones from each group — will now head to the play-in, where they will battle for the other two spots in the playoffs. For that, NAVI Junior and Young Ninjas will start in round 2 of the bracket as a result of finishing in second in their groups, while FURIA Academy, Astralis Talent, Spirit Academy, and OG Academy will face off in round 1 in hopes of playing against the second place teams for a spot in the playoffs.

Here are the final standings from the group stage:

Group A TEAM M P fnatic Rising 12 24 NAVI Junior 12 21 Spirit Academy 12 21 Astralis Talent 12 21 MOUZ NXT 12 18 PROSPECTS 12 15 Eternal Fire Academy 12 6 Group B TEAM M P BIG Academy 12 33 Young Ninjas 12 27 FURIA Academy 12 24 OG Academy 12 18 ENCE Academy 12 12 Apeks Rebels 12 12 Young Gods 12 0

The most shocking of the teams not to make it through to the next round is MOUZ NXT, who hold the title from the previous four seasons but won't be able to defend it for a fifth time, having won just half of their matches in the group stage to end their run just shy of play-in contention in fifth place.

The Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek-led side will instead have to watch from the sidelines as the previous grand finalists from BIG Academy gear up in hopes of making a repeat run, with the bracket stage set to commence on Friday at 15:00 .

Before that though, the play-in matches will take place, the draw and schedule for which can be found below:

Tuesday, August 9
15:00 FURIA Academy vs. Astralis Talent
18:00 Spirit Academy vs. OG Academy

Wednesday, August 10
15:00 NAVI Junior vs. FURIA Academy/Astralis Talent
18:00 Young Ninjas vs. Spirit Academy/OG Academy

Astralis Talent #78 Alexander 'Altekz' GivskovFrederik 'Fessor' SørensenVictor 'vigg0' BisgaardBenjamin 'brzer' JensenMikkel 'MistR' Thomsen fnatic Rising #82 Peppe 'Peppzor' BorakFilip 'DEPRESHN' JarkićMikkel 'Maze' SparvathSebastian 'volt' MaloșMatias 'Banjo' Kivistö Mikael 'sheddaN' Mellström Apeks Rebels #173 Ådne 'sense' FredriksenViktor 'vhw' WadmanTobias 'berzerk' BertelsenPatrik 'Brave' KarlsenSindre 'Tapewaare' Ellefsen Torbjørn 'mithR' Nyborg MOUZ NXT #41 Kamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekMiłosz 'mhL' KnasiakHubert 'szejn' ŚwiatłyJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloDorian 'xertioN' Berman Eternal Fire Academy #141 Can 'Cizzx' ParsAhmet 'cyber' AkpınarEmrecan 'EMSTAR' ÇalışkanAli 'Wicadia' Haydar YalçınSamet 'jottAAA' Köklü Kadir 'ElPrincipe' Sivri Spirit Academy #86 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovVladislav 'H4SAN4TOR' Tuchin Dmitry 'S0tF1k' Forostyanko Young Ninjas #73 Erik 'ztr' GustafssonSean 'eraa' KnutssonLinus 'LNZ' HoltängAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmMax 'maxster' Jansson OG Academy #80 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerKaloyan 'shaiK' Borisov fnatic Rising #82 Peppe 'Peppzor' BorakFilip 'DEPRESHN' JarkićMikkel 'Maze' SparvathSebastian 'volt' MaloșMatias 'Banjo' Kivistö FURIA Academy #75 Leonardo 'zmb' ToledoKaue 'kauez' KaschukLucas 'decenty' BacelarBruno 'Bruninho' RodriguesJoão 'koala' Pfeffer Leonardo 'msr' Caixeta ENCE Academy #136 Veeti 'S1rva' SirvaHenri 'HENU' YlilehtoYoussef 'juissi' AdamVille 'myltsi' VilkmanPaavo 'podi' Heiskanen George 'Whitey' White OG Academy #80 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerKaloyan 'shaiK' Borisov Christian 'crisby' Schmitt Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek Age: 19 Team: MOUZ NXT Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 525 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.70 FURIA Academy #75 Leonardo 'zmb' ToledoKaue 'kauez' KaschukLucas 'decenty' BacelarBruno 'Bruninho' RodriguesJoão 'koala' Pfeffer Young Ninjas #73 Erik 'ztr' GustafssonLinus 'LNZ' HoltängAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmMax 'maxster' JanssonJack 'Jackinho' Ström Mattsson BIG Academy #53 David 'prosus' HesseElias 's1n' SteinTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' Köhn PROSPECTS #132 Alexander 'AlekS' AnderssonGustav 'FRANSSON' FranssonOlle 'spooke' GrundströmJohan 'hype' EngblomJonatan 'bobeksde' Persson Dennis 'Rytter' Rytter MOUZ NXT #41 Kamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekMiłosz 'mhL' KnasiakHubert 'szejn' ŚwiatłyJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloDorian 'xertioN' Berman Tobias 'TOBIZ' Theo BIG Academy #53 David 'prosus' HesseElias 's1n' SteinTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' Köhn Markus 'Anhuin' Paeseler Astralis Talent #78 Alexander 'Altekz' GivskovFrederik 'Fessor' SørensenVictor 'vigg0' BisgaardBenjamin 'brzer' JensenMikkel 'MistR' Thomsen Andreas 'MODDII' Fridh Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Young Gods John 'lineko' LineckJoão 'snow' ViniciusCarlos 'venomzera' EduardoLeonardo 'n9xtz' SantosBruno 'brn$' de Araújo NAVI Junior #105 Daniil 'headtr1ck' ValitovDmytro 'dem0n' MyroshnychenkoAdam 'froz1k' NahornyiMark 'UNBR0KEN' VarakutaAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi Spirit Academy #86 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovVladislav 'H4SAN4TOR' Tuchin