Alliance seize a spot in the TI7 regional qualifiers with a perfect run through the Champions Cup brackets.

It didn't take much for the newly reformed Alliance to find their place in the regional qualifiers - a place they had been aiming for all season until the unexpected roster change less than two weeks ago. When Jonathan 'Loda' Berg had stepped down and was replaced by Adrian 'Era' Kryeziu , the team was thrust into the open qualifiers having broken the roster lock rules.

As fate would have it, the Swedish squad was able to earn their way into the Champions Cup battle where they dominated the event, refusing to drop a single match through the brackets.

The Champions Cup was introduced into the regional qualifiers last season for the Kiev Major as a third option of participation for some teams competing for a place in the main event. At that time only four regions were given an opportunity to participate via Champions Cup qualifiers – SEA, NA, EU and China. Teams from SA were permitted to participate in NA region while teams from CIS were invited to play in the EU region. Initially the news was well received and met with much hype and excitement, which quickly died down as the event approached.

Champions Cup Kiev Major

When Prestige World Wide had taken the SEA Kiev Major Champions Cup slot in the regional qualifiers by default when the North American team that had relocated to SEA was the only team to show up to the cup, many started to question the value of the event.


The poor attendance didn't stop there. The North American Champions Cup was canceled due to lack of participants meeting the criteria to compete. 4protect5 (then known as IKEA) earned their way into the Kiev Major EU regional qualifiers by way of the Champions Cup after defeating the only other EU team to participate - Mumble Elite. 

Champions Cup TI7

Despite what was labeled a failure or flop by many, the Champions Cup was brought back for the TI7 regional qualifiers. While some of the criteria had been altered to open the gates for more teams and players to participate, the results were still almost as dismal for at least two of the regions.

In SEA, Skateamasters slide into the spot as the only team to show up for the event. Slightly better attended was the NA Champions Cup in which four teams battled it out. Starboyz landed the spot and bragging rights after knocking the wind out of their opponents sails, Wind Boys, in a 2:0 sweep.

The real regions of interest became EU and China. With both regions have several notable teams participating, the stakes became a little higher. Europe saw eleven teams total with Alliance as the favorites going head to head with Broodmothers and Team Saphira - among other stacks.

Over in China, eight teams still have yet to battle it out. Among them are notable squads of EHOME.Keen, FTD club A, Team Max and BraveHeart. The event kicks off tomorrow, June 22nd at 04:00 CEST. 

Champions Cup Format:

  • Up to 32 teams in a single-elimination bracket
  • Matches from the Round of 32 to the Quarterfinals best-of-one
  • Semifinals and Finals best-of-three
  • One team advances to main regional qualifiers

Champions Cup Winners:

SEA: Skatemasters
NA: Starboyz
EU: Alliance
CN: TBD


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