Photo: Carlton Beener / Blizzard

ThijsNL, Naiman out of the running for Europe, Amnesiac showcases impeccable play to win group stage.

Thursday was elimination day at the World Championship and no region was under more pressure than Europe. The favorites to win the Worlds trophy had found themselves in a tough position with three of their four representatives one loss away from elimination, that including repeat regional champion Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk, as well as Ole “Naiman” Batyrbekov and Pavel “Pavel” Beltukov.

Two of these three are already out and Europe’s chances at a championship run are cut in half. Facing the triple APAC grand finalist Il-Mook “Handsomeguy” Kang, ThijsNL fell in seven games and finished last in the voted Group of Death. The same fate befell Kazakhstani player Naiman in his own battle against the east, while Zhuo “Hamster” Wang’s unconventional line-up featuring N’Zoth Priest and Anyfin Paladin kept him in the tournament for one more day at least.

The only player who scored for Europe on its D-Day was Pavel, who obliterated Korean Sang-Hyeon “Ddahyoni” Baek for a 4-0 sweep. Pavel and Ukrainian Artem “DrHippi” Kravets are now the only Europeans remaining in the tournament, both of whom will play on the deciding day today.

Thus far, the most successful region of the four has proven to be North America. Dubbed “Young Savage”, Will “Amnesiac” Barton finished Group C undefeated with perfect plays against DrHippi on Friday and is arguably the most consistent player of the tournament so far. He was joined by countryman Edwin “HotMEOWTH” Cook in the next match. With two North Americans already through to the playoffs and two more still in the running, the region has all the chances to repeat its performances from 2014 and qualify all of its four players into the playoffs.

The group stage will complete today with the last four matches, starting 18:00 CET.