MVP Phoenix swiped a game off Newbee, thus mathematically eliminating Team Secret from the upper bracket. who extended the same courtesy to Team Liquid with a 2-0 series victory. DC split their final series against EHOME, thus failing to leap frog the squad for the number one spot.
Digital Chaos and EHOME were not in any significant danger of losing their first and second positions in the group, but because they were scheduled to face off in their final series, there was a question as to how they will place. The first spot in the group is vital as this allows the team to choose who they will play from the opposing group. Digital Chaos needed to sweep the series from EHOME to secure first place in Group B. They were able to take game one off the Chinese wildcard team, but their Meepo strategy came up short in game two. EHOME sealed their quest from TI6 wildcards to Group B champions.
Group B came down to the wire and for a while it seemed as though there would need to be a tiebreaker to settle the score. There was an opportunity for a four way tiebreaker looming because Team Secret, MVP Phoenix, Fnatic and Team Liquid all were still fighting for the final spot in the upper bracket. Fnatic managed to do what was needed by splitting a series with MVP and winning both games against Vici Gaming Reborn thus forcing the Chinese squad to dead last in the group. Unfortunately for Fnatic and Secret, the moment MVP took just a single game off Newbee both were mathematically eliminated from the upper bracket.
Liquid was clinging onto hope, needing only one win against Secret to secure a tiebreaker with MVP and two to take the final spot outright. Regrettably, Liquid was unable to fend off a reenergized Secret team that came to play in their last series before the main event. Liquid lost their series against Team Secret 0-2 just missing out on the final upper bracket slot.
If all of this wasn’t confusing enough for you, give your full attention to the next part. Fnatic, Secret and Liquid are tied for five through seven. Based on the rules of the group stages that state, any teams involved in a tie outside of the upper/lower bracket line will be placed based on the results against the next seeded team, Liquid have dropped from potentially reaching the top four, to seventh in the group, and it is indeed Fnatic who will finish fifth and inherit the ability to choose who they will play in the opposing group that finished seventh or eighth. If you could not quite follow that, because Fnatic and Secret both won their series against Vici Gaming Reborn 2-0 and Liquid lost theirs against Reborn 0-2, Liquid finishes behind the pack. Because Fnatic beat Secret 2-0 head-to-head, Fnatic places above Secret. Hopefully this offers clarity for those of you that didn’t understand the outcomes of Group B.
Group B final standings
The International 6 Coverage HUB
