WePlay Academy League Season 5 hits playoffs

After MOUZ NXT's elimination in the group stage, a new Academy League champion will be crowned on Sunday.

The group stage of the fifth WePlay Academy League season is officially over, with the event's playoffs scheduled to start on Friday. Four academy teams will battle it out in a double-elimination bracket, where only one can emerge victorious and take home the trophy and $45,000 prize.

MOUZ NXT, the winners of the first four iterations of the Academy League, will not have the opportunity to defend their crown after suffering elimination in the group stage. The team only won half of their matches and ultimately were unable to secure a top four spot in Group A, missing out on the play-in and exiting the tournament in 9-10th place.

A new WePlay Academy League champion will be crowned on Sunday

BIG Academy's nearly flawless run in Group B make them the heaviest favorites to win the Academy League trophy. They boast a remarkable 11-1 group stage record, their lone defeat being a 3-16 beatdown at the hands of the Young Ninjas.

The other top-seeded team, fnatic Rising, had a much more challenged run as the European mix only finished with an 8-4 overall record. Meanwhile, Astralis Talent and Spirit Academy both earned their playoff spots through the play-in stage. The Danes took down FURIA Academy and NAVI Junior, while the Russian-Ukrainian outfit dispatched of OG Academy and Young Ninjas en route to the double-elimination stage.

The pair of Astralis Talent and Spirit Academy have a shot at matching and even surpassing their best Academy League results of third and fourth places, respectively, which happened in the competition's third season.

The WePlay Academy League Season 5 playoff schedule is as follows:

Friday, August 12
15:00 - fnatic Rising vs. Astralis Talent | Bo3
18:00 - BIG Academy vs. Spirit Academy | Bo3

Saturday, August 13
15:00 - Lower final | Bo3
18:00 - Upper final | Bo3

Sunday, August 14
15:00 - Consolidation final | Bo3
19:00 - Grand final | Bo3

Astralis Talent #72 Alexander 'Altekz' GivskovFrederik 'Fessor' SørensenVictor 'vigg0' BisgaardBenjamin 'brzer' JensenMikkel 'MistR' Thomsen MOUZ NXT #40 Kamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekMiłosz 'mhL' KnasiakHubert 'szejn' ŚwiatłyJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloDorian 'xertioN' Berman FURIA Academy #57 Leonardo 'zmb' ToledoKaue 'kauez' KaschukLucas 'decenty' BacelarBruno 'Bruninho' RodriguesJoão 'koala' Pfeffer Young Ninjas #65 Erik 'ztr' GustafssonSean 'eraa' KnutssonAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmMax 'maxster' Jansson BIG Academy #46 David 'prosus' HesseElias 's1n' SteinTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' Köhn OG Academy #82 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerKaloyan 'shaiK' Borisov fnatic Rising #58 Peppe 'Peppzor' BorakFilip 'DEPRESHN' JarkićMikkel 'Maze' SparvathSebastian 'volt' MaloșMatias 'Banjo' Kivistö Time is adjusted to your selected timezone NAVI Junior #94 Daniil 'headtr1ck' ValitovDmytro 'dem0n' MyroshnychenkoAdam 'froz1k' NahornyiMark 'UNBR0KEN' VarakutaAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi Spirit Academy #76 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovVladislav 'H4SAN4TOR' Tuchin