If it wasn’t locked in after their victory in Dallas, Nigma Galaxy FE have reasserted themselves as the best female Counter-Strike team in the world, taking out ESL Impact Valencia.
Taking on FURIA Female in a Dallas grand final replay, Nigma Galaxy FE once again came out on top 2-0 (16-8, 16-11), claiming the ESL Impact Valencia title and the $50,000 USD prize purse that comes with it.
It wasn’t to be for our girls in blue and white in Spain, with Mindfreak unfortunately exiting ESL Impact Valencia following losses to Nigma Galaxy FE and NAVI Javelins.
Drawing the ESL Impact Dallas champions in Nigma Galaxy FE for their opener was always going to be tough, and Ana “ANa” Dumbravă made sure the favourites would not be troubled on Inferno.
Nigma Galaxy FE were barely troubled on their CT side, and while Mindfreak found their own CT pistol and anti-eco in the second half, Nigma Galaxy bit right back and closed out the best-of-one 16-6.
Taking on NAVI Javelins in the group eliminator, Mindfreak found a little more success on their T Inferno against the Polish outfit, but were unable to stop NAVI’s T side.
A 16-8 win put NAVI Javelins just one map away from eliminating the Aussies, but Mindfreak weren’t going down without a fight.
Breaking back after a lost pistol round, Mindfreak sprinted to a 5-1 lead behind Vivienne “BiBiAhn” Quach (21-17, 1.38 rating).
But that’s where Mindfreak’s Vertigo — and their tournament lives — would end.
NAVI Javelins went on an 8-1 run to close out their T half, then dropped just two CT rounds on their way to a 16-8 victory, eliminating our Aussie girls.
“[We’re] really happy with how we bounced back from our opening match [against Nigma Galaxy] — especially with everyone refocusing and pulling through until the end,” said Mindfreak coach Eddie “viridian” Azzi.
“It was an amazing experience for us all.”
Nigma Galaxy FE stormed to an early semi-final spot, as did fellow finalists FURIA Female in Group B.
MiBR Female were looking to make it an all-Brazilian grand final after FURIA Female took down NAVI Javelins in the semi-final, but nothing was going to stop Nigma Galaxy.
The European squad stormed home over MiBR and backed up their Dallas win in Spain again in the grand final against FURIA Female, with Alexandra “twenty3” Timonina topping the kill charts across the two-mapper.
ESL Impact Valencia 2022 Results
Eight teams, split into two groups of four, battled for just four playoff spots via a GSL format group stage.
The top two from each group moved to the single-elimination playoffs, with the top team emerging as ESL Impact champions and a whopping $50,000 USD richer.
ESL Impact Valencia 2022 Groups
| Group A | Group B |
| Nigma Galaxy FE (Invite – EU) | FURIA Female (Invite – SA) |
| Mindfreak (Qualifier – NA) | MiBR Female (Qualifier – SA) |
| NAVI Javelins (Qualifier – EU) | GODSENT Female (Qualifier – EU) |
| BIG EQUIPA (Invite – EU) | CLG Red (Invite – NA) |
ESL Impact Valencia 2022 Schedule – Group Stage
| Match | Teams | Time (AEST) |
| July 1-2 | – | – |
| Group A Opening Match 1 | Nigma Galaxy FE 16-6 Mindfreak | 6:30pm |
| Group A Opening Match 2 | NAVI Javelins 13-16 BIG EQUIPA | 8:10pm |
| Group B Opening Match 1 | FURIA Female 16-11 MiBR Female | 9:50pm |
| Group B Opening Match 2 | GODSENT Female 11-16 CLG Red | 11:30pm |
| Group A Winners Match | Nigma Galaxy FE 16-6 BIG EQUIPA | 1:10am |
| Group B Winners Match | FURIA Female 16-8 CLG Red | 2:50am |
| Group A Elimination Match | NAVI Javelins 2-0 Mindfreak | 4:30am |
| July 2-3 | – | – |
| Group B Elimination Match | MiBR Female 2-1 GODSENT Female | 7pm |
| Group A Decider Match | BIG EQUIPA 0-2 NAVI Javelins | 10:30pm |
| Group B Decider Match | CLG Red 0-2 MiBR Female | 2am |
ESL Impact Valencia 2022 Schedule – Playoffs
| Match | Teams | Time (AEST) |
| July 3-4 | – | – |
| Semi-Final 1 | Nigma Galaxy FE 2-0 MiBR Female | 7pm |
| Semi-Final 2 | NAVI Javelins 0-2 FURIA Female | 10:30pm |
| Grand Final | Nigma Galaxy FE 2-0 FURIA Female | 2am |
ESL Impact Valencia 2022 Squads
| Team | Squad | ||||
| BIG EQUIPA | Aidy | D7_KC | Aidaaa | Jenny_R | Zana |
| CLG Red | di^ | Emy | Goosebreeder | Juli | kelsie |
| FURIA Esports Female | kaah | GaBi | izaa | olga | Mari |
| Nigma Galaxy Female | ANa | twenty3 | vilga | tory | Kat |
| NAVI Javelins | Vicu | Angelka | Haniaa | Liina | Danuu |
| GODSENT Female | aurora | ASTRA | Minnie | pullox | Ann4 |
| Mindfreak | BiBiAhn | Emi | Emiinent | cAra | mish |
| MiBR Female | Arkynha | LyttleZ | khizha | hera | josi |
