The Chosen Four: Top Main Qualifiers Already Determined

Much like the initial cast of your favorite RPG, the top four teams in the main qualifiers are already determined. Find out who’s going to TI6.

Four teams towered above the rest in the regional main qualifiers for TI6. These are the teams that managed to clinch the #1 spot of the initial MQ round robin bloodbath. In every region, we saw titans facing down titans, as each and every one of the RRs terminated in tiebreakers of considerable intensity.

The Chosen Four

From the Americas, Evil Geniuses rose to the top. From China, Wings Gaming. In the European scene, Team Secret boldly proclaimed its dominance. And in SEA, TNC Pro Team unleashed their inner demon (way to stay topical, DeMoN!).

These four teams watched over the ensuing chaos of the MQs like mighty megaliths. Imposing. Monumental. Safe.

“Safe” is a relative term

Of course this is only the calm before the storm, or the storm before the storm for teams who had to fight it out in the MQ playoff bracket. The Nanyang DOTA 2 Championships Season 2 is right around the corner, kicking off July 6th and lasting until the 10th in Shanghai.

Of the TI6 MQ chosen four, Team Secret and EG have announced they will be present at this premiere level tournament, as will Newbee, a team that had already scored a direct invite to TI6. And now that the MQ playoffs are concluded, we know that TI6 qualifiers Digital Chaos and Fnatic will also be taking part in the Nanyang Championships.

Poor performance in Shanghai could hurt team morale leading into TI6. This could translate into trouble at The International, but with all teams on their A-game and hungry for victory, I don’t think we’ll see too many missteps between now and TI6.

Getting down with the sickness in Asia

I’m most concerned, however, about the ailments that seem to follow pro-players back to their homelands after tournaments in China and SEA. Anyone remember FATA-‘s return from Manila? Sickness in a linchpin player could be a recipe for disaster at TI6.

It took about .5 seconds on twitter to find this tweet:

Check out the comments in that one. “You too? I still have a cough.” This is far from the only health related “I’ve been to Asia/Oceania ” post I’ve seen, and poor health seems to be a reoccurring theme for teams, commentators, and officials traveling to and from that region.

Having spent some time in Asia myself, I have this to say:

And the hits just keep on coming

July 21st – 24th we also have the StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2 to look forward to. None of the front-runners of the MQs have been announced for this tourney, but there are still three direct invites open. TI6 qualifiers Digital Chaos and Fnatic, however, appear to be fully scheduled all the way to The International. In addition to Nanyang, both will also be taking part in SL Season 2.

Since the SL tournament is taking place in America for the very first time, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few more MQ teams, or one of the TI6 direct invites, weren’t wrangled into the running for PR purposes.

And of course, TI6 is on the horizon. August can’t come soon enough! If the ten day long event, spanning from August 3rd – 13th, is anything like the MQs, it will be full of upsets and top tier pro play. We’ll be covering the action here at DireDota HQ as it unfolds.

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