Sigma took just the second 2-0 victory over the first eight games in this tournament after defeating Fnatic 2-0 in the WPC-ACE western qualifiers. They are behind Empire, who has an uncomfortable one-point lead after finishing all four of their matches with a draw. The rest of the games will be played later today.
Be it Team Dog with two Sigma stand-ins, or Sigma with three Team Dog stand-ins, the team have shown that they are a team to be taken seriously as they convincingly defeated Fnatic in two games yesterday. Despite having an almost equal hero kill score in the first game (Sigma only had a one-kill advantage a minute before the game ended), Sigma was so far ahead on gold and experience that Luna was even able to casually buy a full Dagon 5 just before the game ended. The second game was a similar story, with Fnatic's seemingly passive and disable-lackine line-up failing to defend against a very farmed Naga.
On the other hand, while Empire showed that they can score off anyone in this competition, they have also shown that they are just as vulnerable. As the first day, they managed two draws and this pushed their score total to four. Despite having a slight lead at the moment, it is an uneasy advantage for them as they already played all of their four matches as opposed to the two games played of all the others.
The rest of the matches of the WPC-ACE Western qualifier will be played today, hence the top two teams will be determined unless there is a complex tiebreak scenario. Empire, having already played all of their matches, does not have any game remaining. All the other teams will play two games tonight.
Being just a win off the top rank, both Alliance and Sigma are looking good heading into the final day of the qualifiers. However, despite having only one point apiece, both Fnatic and Cloud 9 still have a fighting chance if they can win both of their matches today.
The highlight of today is the match between Alliance and Sigma, who both have three points each. A win on that match will basically secure that team a trip to China and that much closer to the $250,000~ prize pool.
15:00CET/21:00SGT - 
Alliance vs 
Sigma
17:00CET/23:00SGT - 
Fnatic vs Alliance
19:00CET/01:00SGT - Cloud 9 vs Sigma
21:00CET/03:00SGT - Fnatic vs Cloud 9
The top two teams after the best-of-two, single round-robin group stage will fly to Shanghai for the playoff phase of the WPC-ACE, wherein they will be joined by the top six teams of the east qualifiers. There will be a pre-playoff and a playoff stage, and the entirety of it is scheduled from 22 May to 3 June.
Want to read more about WPC-ACE? Check out our coverage hub here.
