Cover Image Courtesy: Epicenter
The International 2019 Group Stages finally come to a close! It has been a hell of an entertaining 4 days with some of the best matches we’ve seen all year.
In the end, 2 teams were clearly worse than the rest of the teams in the playing field and have been eliminated. European teams Chaos E.C. and NiP never really got going and will now be walking home with just ~$80,000 USD.
The rest of the teams will have to wait for a day (2 in some cases) before resuming the action, this time, in front of a roaring crowd at the main event of TI9.
Group A
Image Courtesy: Wykrhm Reddy
Coming into Day 4, TNC Predator needed to 2-0 Team Liquid in order to guarantee a spot in the upper brackets. It was a tricky ask, especially with Team Liquid’s recovery on Day 3 and TNC’s affinity towards 1-1 draws over the last few days. But the Filipino team stepped up and delivered when it mattered the most, to book their place in the Upper Brackets of the Main Event.
TNC Predator will be joined by Newbee, Team Secret and PSG.LGD in the Upper Brackets while Mineski, Alliance, Team Liquid and Keen Gaming have been relegated to the lower brackets.
Group B
Image Courtesy: Wykrhm Reddy
Group B was far more open than Group A when we kicked off today’s games. 5 teams were fighting for an Upper Bracket berth, while 2 were battling each other to avoid elimination. The remaining 2 teams, OG and Vici Gaming, were relaxed and started playing Techies and meme strategies, on the other hand.
Fnatic, Virtus.Pro and Evil Geniuses started the day well, to keep them well within touching distance of an upper bracket slot. Na’Vi and Infamous, on the other hand, seemed like they just couldn’t handle the pressure and lost their footing in the table getting relegated to the lower brackets.
Fnatic and Virtus.Pro went head-to-head against each other for the final upper bracket spot after EG easily secured 3rd place. Fnatic just needed to win a solitary game for their place in the upper brackets, but Virtus.Pro turned up and didn’t let the SEA team gain any footing in this series and 2-0d them to secure the final spot at TI.
So the playoff brackets are set. There are some many engrossing and enthralling matches including Evil Geniuses vs Team Secret, TNC Predator vs Vici Gaming, Fnatic vs Team Liquid and LGD Gaming vs Virtus.Pro already.
Best Highlights
1. Ori massacres OG
2. Alliance turn it around with a Black Hole
3. TIMS 200 IQ Play
4. Miracle gets punished for his Greed
5. Miracle gets punished for his Greed 2: Electric Boogaloo
Best Memes
Credits: RagingKuKu Gaming
Credits: Thet Naung Oo | Sourced via Wykrhm Reddy Group
Credits: /u/chaiinchomp
Best Fan Reactions
The youngest TNC fan
Sourced via Phoenix Army
Matu the ultimate sacrificial carry
Credits: /u/Enlight10ment
On Miracle's Storm Spirit performance
Credits: /u/noisyapocalpse
Stay tuned to AFK Gaming as we bring you all the latest updates from the International.
