The pressure in the EU groupstage of Starladder X is building. Alliance claim the third spot in the LAN finals in Kiev. The fourth spot is still vacant - Na'Vi play Secret and Fnatic tomorrow, winning at least one secures them the spot. Losing both forces a three way tie.
With Starladder X's European groupstage coming to a close, the stakes are high for some. Three teams have earned enough points to rest, assured of a spot in the LAN event, but Alliance taking the third spot have put all eyes on Na'Vi for the final day. Their performance tomorrow decides not only their fate, but the fate of two other teams as well.
Early in September, Alliance and Virtus Pro Polar (formerly NVMI) faced each other only to have the game stopped before the end due to apparant DDOS attacks. The match was postponed indefinetely. Yesterday, Alliance received a default win for this matchup. The descision was made after VP lost against Team Tinker last night. If the Russians had won the matchup, Alliance would have needed the win against Polar to advance. Tinker's win eliminated this possibility however, and Alliance would have received the spot regardless of this win, seeing as they had already beaten the other teams sitting on nine points, save for Na'Vi. Other factors to consider are that the Swedes had a huge lead on Goblak and co when the attacks occurred, and the fact that VPP are not in the running for a spot in the finals anymore regardless of the outcome of this match.
Alliance qualifying leaves three teams tied for 4th place - Na'Vi, Cloud 9 and Virtus Pro - each team sitting at nine points. C9 and VP have both played all fifteen of their groupstage matches, while Na'Vi still have two matches remaining. The Ukrainians only have to win one of their matches tomorrow to secure the final spot. If they lose both, however, these three teams will be forced into a tiebreaker since the results between the three are not decisive - C9 beat Na'Vi, Na'Vi took down VP, and VP won against C9. If Na'Vi performs badly tomorrow, C9 and VP will have a chance to get back into it and take the spot for themselves.
As fate would have it, the remaining games are not low key - Na'Vi have to face Secret and Fnatic on their last day, Secret being almost undefeated in the group stage.
The matches start tomorrow at 20:45 CEST, with Na'Vi facing Fnatic first.
