We are more than halfway through for The Summit II European and Chinese league matches, and while it is still early to make concrete conclusions, the picture is a lot less blurred as far as moving to the next round goes. The final matches of the Chinese group finish today as one qualifiying slot remains vacant. Here is an update of the current standings across the regions.
As we enter into the third week of The Summit II, the prospects of European and Chinese teams to reach the main stage are getting distinct. The round robin Best-of-1's have been running in full flow over the past few days with as many as ten matches being played in a day. Each group, i.e. America, Europe, China and SEA, has twelve teams (except China, which has eight) and the top four teams from each group will move to the regional double elimination phase after which, one team from each region will make it to the offline playoffs which is scheduled between December 3rd to 7th. The ride so far has been engrossing and we have got to witness quite a few upsets and surprises along the way.
Matches Completed: 15/66
Teams Confirmed: None
Teams Eliminated: None
Surprises: Sneaky Nyx Assassins
The American scene has not had as many matches as some of the other regions, hence no conclusions can be drawn. Na`Vi.US, who have been going through a relatively lean patch recently, have peformed well and stand atop the table with a 3-1 score and stand a good chance of making it to the next round. On the other hand, the newly formed team Stay Free have dropped all of the three matches they have played as yet and are at the bottom of the table just below paiN who have lost two. SNA, one of the stronger teams of the region, have not been upto the mark as they have dropped matches to relatively less known teams Turn My Swag On and Leviathan, and now find themselves at a 1-2 score having picked up a sole win over Stay Free. Note that, Evil Geniuses, arguably the best team of American region, are not a part of the league matches since they have received a direct invite to the tournament on account of being the winners of the 1st edition.
Matches Completed: 35/66
Teams Confirmed: None
Teams Eliminated: Balkan Bears Corleone
Surprises: Team Empire, Alliance, Kompas Gaming
We are more than halfway done for the European league matches and while none of the teams have theoretically confirmed their movement into the next round, one can put their money on Team Tinker and SecretTeam to do so, as they take the top two positions of the table with a 6-1 and 5-1 score respectively. They are closely followed by Virtus Pro.Polar with four wins and two losses. The middle of the table is tightly packed wherein Kompas Gaming, one of the qualifier winners, have surprised us all securing a 3-1 score, even upsetting Alliance, who on the other hand have been suffering at the lack of a stable team and have a bleak chance of qualifying with the 2-5 score that they have. Fnatic which is going through a similar phase as Alliance finds itself at the same score. Empire too, have been lacklustre and only have one win to show for the 3 losses to their name. Lastly, BBC, the other qualifier team, has no chance to qualify as they have dropped to seven losses to go along with their single victory over Empire. BBC has, however, performed valiantly and better than what their scoreline seems to suggest with a lot of close matches against top teams.
Matches Completed: 24/28
Teams Confirmed: NewBee, CDEC, LGD
Teams Eliminated: DK, LAI Gaming
Surprises: Invictus Gaming, Vici Gaming, CDEC
The Chinese round robin is about to draw to a close and three of the four slots for the regional playoffs have already been occupied. Newbee has had a flawless record till now, winning five matches, losing none. CDEC has outperformed their expectations and are not behind with similar number of wins but they have one loss to their name. The third team is LGD who started off the post-TI4 season looking weak and unstable, but have pulled their socks up and confirmed their qualification. They have played all their matches and have five wins. iG and VG have both been disappointing, and while iG has completed its quota of seven matches, winning just the three, VG still has the opportunity to improve their score and qualify. DK and LAI have already been eliminated with scores of 1-5 and 1-6 respectively. This leaves iG, VG and HyperGloryTeam in the run for the fourth slot, a situation which will be clear once today's matches are finished, the most significant one being VG taking on HGT while Newbee versus DK will be a dead rubber.
Matches Completed: 12/66
Teams Confirmed: None
Teams Eliminated: Arrow Gaming (disqualified)
Surprises: Can't Say Wips, IAP.XctN
The SEA scene, which has been rattled by match-fixing scandals recently, has had the least matches played for any region, hence there isn't much to conclude. Recently, MSI and Mineski were replaced by Rave and First Departure, which was followed by Arrow Gaming being removed from the tournament, all of this owing to the match fixing accusations. As far as the current standings go, the Australian team Can't Say Wips have performed admirably and are at the top of the table with three wins and no losses. They are followed by the SEA powerhouses Team Malaysia and Invasion both with 2-0 scores. The upset of the group has probably been IAP.XctN, who have been in great form recently and also qualified as the only SEA team for StarLadder finals, as they have dropped two matches, winning just one. However, with just three matches being played, it is still early to pass any judgement. Zephyr finds themselves at the bottom of the table facing four defeats in four games and their qualification chances appear grim.
UPDATE: All of Arrow's matches have been declared forfeited and a defwin has been assigned to all other teams.
One can bet on the matches today from this link. Meanwhile, the prize pool for The Summit II has crossed $250,000. You can add to the prize pool by purchasing an in-game ticket here.
