TI6 Main Qualifiers Give Reporter Heart Arrhythmia

The main qualifiers are well under way, and the competition between the top teams in each region is fierce.

At one point my heart rate was so high it almost felt like I had gone for a jog. I admit, that might be in part due to the extreme sleep deprivation I’m now suffering after trying to watch as many streams for the MQs as possible. Do I regret it? Not even a little bit.

The European MQs were especially exciting. I awaited each new match like a sumo wrestler awaits his next Crispy Creme doughnut. Gotta scratch that itch. We all expected Europe to get nasty at this point in the season, but you know the competition is brutal when the top three of your round robin bracket tie at 6 – 3.

And Escape Gaming? Wow. What a showing! They came out swinging taking second in the round robin bracket and then fought an impressive battle against Alliance, finally getting the boot to the loser’s round 1 bracket after a gripping 1 – 2 match in Alliance’s favor. But keep in mind, this is after Escape signed No Diggity on 6/21, which only goes to show you whoever’s making decisions over there at Escape has got his/her head on straight.

But don’t take my word for it, check out the highlights:

In the Chinese MQ, I was pleased to see Wings Gaming at the top of their round robin bracket. Phil “Newborn” Newman and I, for once, both agreed that Wings would make up for its abysmal performance in the Manila Major here, and make up for it they did!

Rachel, on the other hand, is going to be buying us some brews sometime this week. Sorry, Rachie. That’s the price you pay for being wrong.

As most of us expected, Evil Geniuses and compLexity Gaming led the Americas round robin, with EG taking the tibreaker over compLexity. Digital Chaos brought up the third place ranking in the RRs, and Void Boys managed to parlay their considerable experience into fourth place in the RRs giving them a shot in the playoffs. Best of luck to you, voidy boys!

SEA MQs were also quite gripping, though I think I passed out for a solid block of the live cast. Much like Europe, the top three teams in SEA tied in the RRs with the tiebreaker putting TNC Pro Team at the tippity top, Fnatic in second, and Execration in third.

We’ll be bringing you more on the results of the MQs as matches are concluded and dreams are either crushed or realized.

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