Phase two of the playoff round concluded over the weekend with mixed fortunes for the Malaysian representatives. There were few surprises as to which teams qualified for the phase three playoff. ViCi and Evil Geniuses ended the weekend with 12 and 11 wins respectively, allowing them to top the table and immediately qualify for the main event that begins on 18 July. Arrow Gaming failed to lift themselves off the bottom of the pack, going as far as failing to beat any team since last Thursday.
With prize money only being offered to the top 14 finishers, there was a small amount of consolation for some of the teams that failed to make the cut. Mousesports and Alliance both went home with US$37,529; while Empire and Fnatic received US$21,445 for finishing 13th and 14th. Neither teams received an insignificant sum as most regular esports tournaments average far less than that in prizes.
Only Na’ VI.US and Arrow Gaming were eliminated without anything to show but their pride. Na’ VI.US had the unenviable task of facing some of the toughest opposition on Friday by having to face Team DK, Titan eSport and Evil Geniuses. A schedule that possibly doomed them to their 15th place finish. Arrow Gaming failed to show any of the potential displayed during their win of the Southeast Asian qualifier by crashing to a 2 – 13 record at TI4 and losing to everyone except the American teams.
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The middle eight teams also began playing the phase three playoffs on Monday morning local time; while most of the world was pre-occupied by the World Cup finals. Six of these eight teams will advance to the main event, while two will end up eliminated from the tournament.
With two brackets being played, LGD knocked Team Liquid out of the bracket early on, and then proceeded to fall to Cloud9 in match B of the day. The loss has put LGD in the losers bracket for the main event, although not all is lost for the Chinese team who still have a chance of competing for the grand prize. Cloud9 later fell to Team DK in match C to join LGD in the losers bracket.
Tonight will see the second half of phase three begin with Titan eSport facing NewBee in the elimination portion of the bracket. The other teams in the bracket are Na’ Vi, and iG, who are both already confirmed to be playing in the main event; and are now challenging for a more favourable matchup when it begins.
Watch the action tonight either in-game or on Twitch.
