Team Tinker has secured the North-American spot for the StarLadder StarSeries XII LAN playoffs and finals to be held at Dreamhack Bucharest, between April 24-26. IG, LGD and ViCi Gaming are still putting up a fight in the Chinese division, while The International titleholders, NewBee, have been eliminated.
Team Tinker was the first team to complete their second group stage series in the North-American division, grabbing the victory over Wheel Wreck While Whistling in a 2-1 series, and securing a spot at the Dreamhack Bucharest LAN finals. Team Tinker was undefeated in their first group stage. After finishing their second group stage they only lost two games total, one in the first round and one in the grand finals.
The Chinese teams are wrapping up their second group stages, with the fights continuing between IG, LGD, and ViCi Gaming. The International titleholders, NewBee, were eliminated by ViCi Gaming in a 2-0 series in the Lower Bracket. IG and LGD will play later in the day to determine which of the two teams will have a secured place in Bucharest, leaving the losing team to fight out their last chance versus ViCi Gaming in the lower bracket.
The European and SEA regions will continue with their first group stage matches this week.
StarLadder StarSeries XII regions
North America:
Eight teams participated in the NA region, including: Void Boys, WWWW, Pain, E-hug, Team Tinker, Complexity, Not Today, Leviathan. Evil Geniuses have declined to accept the invitation. The eight teams were divided into two groups, top two teams in each group to advance to the second group stage.
Void Boys (with a 3-0 record) and WWWW (with 2-1) advanced into the second group stage from Group 1.
Team Tinker (undefeated) and Complexity (with a 2-1 record) advanced into the second group stage from Group 2.
China:
Eight teams participated in the Chinese Region, including: Invictus Gaming, LGD, E-Home, TungFu, WanZhao, ViCiGaming, Newbee, DK, and HyperGloryTeam. The teams were divided into two groups, with four teams each, top two teams in each group to advance to the second group stage.
From Group 1, IG entered into the second group stage undefeated along with LGD, which had one loss. From Group 2, both ViCi Gaming and Newbee advanced with records of 2-1.
In the second group stage, IG remains undefeated for the series, and joins LGD in the winner brackets, while Newbee and ViCiGaming have dropped down to the lower brackets.
Europe:
16 teams participated in the European Region, including: Team Secret, London Conspiracy, Duza Gaming, Moscow 5, Team Empire, Goomba Gaming, Na’Vi, Basically Unknown, Cloud 9, Scaryfacezzz, Vega Squadron, HellRaisers, The Alliance, ASUS.Polar, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Power Rangers. The teams were divided into four groups, top two teams in each group to advance to the second group stage.
With four groups, the European group stages are still underway. Groups 1, 2 and 3 have been fully played with Team Secret, Team Empire, and Cloud 9 all being undefeated in their groups, and London Conspiracy and Scaryfacezzz each advancing with 2-1 records. Group 2 had a three-way tie with the eventual honor to advance going to Goomba Gaming which knocked out Na’Vi. Group 4 is still not completed, but shows The Alliance undefeated with a 2-0 record and ASUS.Polar (2-1 record) leading their group so far.
SouthEast Asia:
Eight teams particpated in the SEA region, including: E-Home Malyasia, Mineski, Invasion, 5eva, G-Guard, Signature.Trust, Nvidia Aces, and MVP.Phoenix. The teams were divided into two groups, the top two teams advancing into the second group stage.
Only one of the groups in the SEA region have played out their first group stage. E-home advanced to the second group stage undefeated, while the three-way-tie between Mineski, Invasion and 5eva battled it out with Mineski coming out on top to advance to the second group stage. No games have been played as of yet for the teams of Group 2.
The StarLadder StarSeries XII online group stages began March 10. The best eight out of the 40 participating teams will qualify to the LAN finals: four European teams, two Chinese teams, one North-American team, and one Southeast Asian team. For the first time in the tournament’s history, the StarSeries finals will leave the Cybersport Arena in Kiev, to be hosted at Dreamhack Bucharest, April 24-26. The venue for the playoffs was changed amidst multiple frustrations and issues in the past regarding visas for traveling teams. The base prize pool is $80,000 plus travel support for attending teams. Casting will be provided by SLTV in Russian and Beyond the Summit in English.
Leave a Reply