The International 2016 - Group Stages Day 3 - Recap and Highlights
As the dust settles, 4 teams from each group have emerged victorious and will start their journey through the upper bracket of the main event. These 8 teams will take comfort in the fact that they’ll be playing a straight up double elimination bracket with all matches being a best of three.
The bottom 4 from each group has it rough. They will be playing best of one knockout matches in the lower bracket against opponents that cannot be considered pushovers by any stretch of the imagination. These 8 teams are one loss away from being knocked out of the largest tournament in eSports history!
Here’s a quick recap of how we ended up at this point via Day 3 of the group stages.
Natus Vincere
Despite a late resurgence at the end of day 2, Navi’s day 3 performance wasn’t enough to warrant them a top 4 finish in group A. The massive Navi fanbase will be left wondering whether their team is really “back” after their poor showing in the group stages. Navi’s 2 victories came against the only 2 Chinese sides in the group – LGD and Wings, and with Navi historically having done well against Chinese teams it was a nice to see them continue their performance. But dropped points against weaker opponents like Escape and TNC will mean that their performance is lacking the clinical execution and consistency that is required to win a tournament like TI.
Day 3 started off on a good note for them as they picked up the 2-0 over Wings with Ditya Ra on his Huskar and Ursa shining in both games. But a 0-2 loss in the last series against top seeds OG sealed their fate as they now start the main event in a grueling bo1 against Manila Major runners up Team Liquid.
Navi VS Wings: 2-0
Navi VS OG: 0-2
Alliance
Alliance seem to have found their rhythm in the International as they will now start off in the main event from the upper bracket. Their 8 wins and 6 losses was enough to secure them a 3rd position finish in group A. Their day 3 performance will leave them overflowing with confidence as they head to Key Arena. A draw against Escape was followed by a very exciting series against sister team EG. A 70 min nail biter of a game 1 and a very short and systematic 20-minute decimation in game 2 netted them the surprising 2-0 over the defending champions. They now face off against group B leaders Ehome in the Upper brackets of the main event.
Alliance VS Escape:1-1
Alliance VS EG: 2-0
Wings
Wings were touted as potential top 4 from the get go and rightly so with them having played some extremely good, efficient and unconventional Dota in the months leading up to TI6. Day 3 started off on a somewhat bad note as they conceded a 2-0 loss to Navi. But they pulled themselves back in the second series against fellow countrymen LGD. A brutal 2-0 domination, with both games ending at around the 20-minute mark allowed Wings to finish joint 3rd/4th along with Alliance to secure a UB matchup against Digital Chaos in the main event.
Wings VS Navi: 0-2
Wings VS LGD: 2-0
Evil Geniuses
The returning champions have had to endure tough times ever since they were seen lifting the Champions Aegis but it seems that the boys in blue have weathered the storm as they look to be the first team to win two TIs. They started off in a comfortable position at the start of day 3 at the top of the table but a somewhat lacking performance on the final day means that they finish the group in second position. A tied series against LGD and a 2-0 loss to TI3 champions Alliance wasn’t enough to take away their UB slot and they now face Chinese giants, Newbee in Key Arena.
EG VS LGD: 1-1
EG VS Alliance: 0-2
Escape Gaming
Synderen made a surprising announcement to come back from retirement to participate in TI this year but might be regretting his decision as his side are struggling to find any form after 3 days of play. They picked up only 2 wins in 14 games and will have to pull out something magical if they want to advance past round 1 in the main event. Their day 3 matchups included a tie against Alliance and a loss to SEA side TNC. They face Mushi led Fnatic in a bo1 in the lower bracket of the main event.
ESC VS Alliance: 1-1
ESC VS TNC: 0-2
TNC
TNC have performed way above everyone’s expectations and should consider themselves unlucky to be starting out from the LB in the main event. Their 7-7 performance at the group stages left them 1 win short of tying for UB qualification. Their final day performances included a 2-0 loss to OG and a 2-0 win over Escape. TNC have shown some real fighting spirit in the group stages and provided some real threat even to some of the bigger teams. Their resilience and playstyle has been fresh and it is nice to see a SEA team perform at such a high level. But the unforgiving bo1 format in the first round of the lower bracket will have to be navigated carefully as TNC go up against TI4 runner-up Fy led side Vici Gaming Reborn.
TNC VS OG: 0-2
TNC VS Escape: 2-0
LGD
Many questioned LGD’s direct invite for TI6 and they seem to have given their doubters more reason to question them by placing a measly 7th in group A. The Xiao8 led side were expected to do well and the veteran TI4 winning captain’s comeback was widely publicized and celebrated by the Chinese community. But they seem to have hit a roadblock and with 5 win and 9 losses LGD will have to dig deep in the 2 rest days to have some hope of surviving the bo1 knockout round at the main event.
Their day 3 results included a draw against EG and a loss to Wings. They now face European/NA giants Team Secret at Key Arena in a fight for survival. All eyes will be on the man dubbed “Director” as he looks to marshal his squad to TI victory for the second time.
LGD VS EG: 1-1
LGD VS Wings: 0-2
OG
OG have come into TI as hot favorites and rightly so with them having won 2 Majors over the course of last year. The squad, front lined by one of the most gifted players to have ever graced the scene, Amer “Miracle” Barqawi, has looked almost unbeatable and they sit on the top of the table at the end of the group stages. They round off their last day with 2 brilliant games against TNC and Navi and with 11 wins and 3 losses they head to Key Arena to face up against MVP Phoenix in the Upper Brackets.
OG VS TNC: 2-0
OG VS Navi: 2-0