Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers standings: Empire strikes back, Na’Vi eliminated

The Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers standings for day 2 are in. Team Empire, Team Liquid, Team Spirit and Vega have advanced into the playoffs. The double elimination brackets will kick off tomorrow January 9th, at 11:00 CET.

The Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers standings are in after a long and eventful day in the group stage segment of the competition. The four regional teams that will advance have emerged.

For the EU playoffs we have @LiquidDota vs @team_empire and @Team__Spirit vs @VegaSquadron. Matches are live from 11 am cet tomorrow!

— Qualifiers Oracle (@Dota2Qualifiers) January 8, 2016

Team Spirit and Team Liquid both took the lead in their groups, each with three wins and one draw, having lost only one match during the groupstage. Both teams performed exceptionally well. While Team Liquid were expected to excel and many questioned their lack of a direct invite, Team Spirit has been relatively new on the scene and hosts three newer pro players and fresh blood.

Team Empire nudged out Na’vi in the tie breaker, giving another devastating blow to the legendary team that had been regaining ground. Former team members Oleksandr “XBOCT” Dashkevych and Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov seemed to have breathed the new life into Team Empire it was searching for and left Na’vi gasping for air.

Vega were able to sweep through London Conspiracy to take the final spot in the qualifiers and push ahead of the rest of the teams that had been locked in a three way tie until then. The CIS team are hedging on their stability and cohesion to move them along in the brackets to the finals.

Team Empire, Team Liquid, Team Spirit and Vega have all progressed to the playoff stage of the event.

The matches resume on January 9th, at 11:00 CET, and are expected to be intense as the teams continue their quest towards the second stage of the qualifiers – the double elimination brackets.

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers standings day 2

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers standings courtesy of RUHUB

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers standings day 2 Group A

Team Spirit has now cast a shadow upon the rest of the CIS teams competing in the event. Soaring high above the rest, the team has reached new levels, dropping only one match in the groupstage when they split the series 1:1 with Na’Vi on the first day. With three newcomers to the scene and young talent, the team is continuing the trend of showing that fresh blood can be stronger and successful.

Team Empire has been on fire since their newly reformed roster. The Empire strikes back and took out Na’Vi in the process in order to advance into the playoffs. Taking out Na’Vi 2:0, they secured their place and confidence with a big potential to go to China.

Both HellRaisers and MamasBoys had a short lived run in the event, struggling to keep themselves in the game.

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers standings day 2 Group B

!@#$3 Mid Visage Kreygasm RIP work @LiquidDota @LiquidFATA

— Nahaz (@NahazDota) January 8, 2016

Team Liquid have continued to be high on everyone’s list as teams to watch. They have been impressive during their performances, giving both intense, exciting matchups as well as interesting and successful drafting. Although some of their games were lengthy, approaching one hour marks, and they came for the win behind, they had little trouble making it to the top. In the final games, Team Liquid grabbed Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, his most infamous hero. The two wins against Vega were enough to solidify their first place standing.

RoX,London Conspiracy and Vega were close together, looking to be at a three way tie. Vega’s decisive 2:0 sweep over the Danish/Swedish squad was enough to put them ahead of the pack and give them the second spot in the group.

Elements struggled in the event, taking only one win and seven losses in their matches. Their only win was when they split the series 1:1 with London Conspiracy on the first day.

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers format

• The ten teams have been divided into two Round Robin groups of five.
• Top two teams will advance to a double elimination bracket.
• First place team will start in the Upper Brackets.
• Runner-up team will start in the Lower Brackets.
• Playoffs are double elimination brackets
• The first and second place teams from the Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers will advance to the main event in Shanghai, China.

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers groups

Dota 2 Shanghai Major Qualifiers Groups courtesy of Dota2RUHUB

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers schedule

Saturday, January 9th

• 11:00 CET – Spirit vs Vega
• 14:00 CET – Liquid vs Empire
• 17:00 CET – winner (match 1 ) vs winner (match 2)

Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers streams

The Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers will be broadcast in English as part of the coverage provided by Beyond the Summit in their “insanity hub”.

• The Beyond the Summit Twitch channel will provide coverage of select group stage matches from all four regions.

The Shanghai Major Europe Qualifiers series will begin at 03:00 CET, on Thursday, January 7th, and end on January 10th.