After four weeks of matches, First Departure, Invasion, MVP Phoenix and Rave have emerged as the top four teams in the StarLadder SEA division for the 11th season. They will take each other on in double elimination playoffs to determine the top team going to Kiev.
The group stage for Starladder XI's South East Asian qualifier has come to an end with First Departure, Invasion, MVP Phoenix and Rave securing their spots in the regional playoffs due to begin on December 17th. The four teams will compete for the sole qualifier spot for the LAN finals at Cyberarena in Kiev, Ukraine.
The big news of the group stage will be the demise of Execration. The team managed to win the regional qualifiers for Starladder X and competed in the LAN finals in Kiev, but this time the Phillipines-based team finished bottom of the group, unable to pick up a single victory in their nine games. Also struggling this season were Team Malaysia, who began their qualifying campaign only a week after Yee 'Mushi' Fung Chai left the team and the following exit of Joel 'XTiNcT' Chan. Team Malaysia failed to find their form with temporary replacements and could only win four of their nine games, placing seventh.
However at the top of the table and equal on points, First Departure and Invasion did enough to finish above the other eight teams but First Departure will take top seed in the playoffs following their win over the Malaysian team. Before that victory, the last time the two teams met was in the finals of The Summit 2 qualifiers. This resulted in unfortunately neither team attending the Los Angeles based event due to unavailable players for First Departure and visa issues for Invasion. Both teams will be hoping to bounce back and be able to represent the South East Asian scene in Ukraine in January next year. But they'll have to get past MVP Phoenix and Rave, who finished third and fourth in the group with six points each. Back in April, the Korean team made the trip to Kiev for Starladder IX but were unable to come away with a victory.
The regional finals are set in a double-elimination format with group winners First Departure competing against fourth placed Rave and Invasion taking on MVP Phoenix. For more information on the tournament and the other qualifiers click here.
