The event is about to kick off in less than 12 hours with a format that gives a lot of importance to the group stage. Only the top two teams from each group will advance into the playoffs. The group stage is played in a GSL (double elimination) format and Group B matches will commence on the 24th of February at 03:00 CET/ 10:00 CST.
So, let’s take a look at the match-ups in group B
Comparing the two groups, it seems that group B will is much more stacked, although at a first glance it might not look so for everyone. The only similarity with group A is that there is a team here as well, who already makes a strong case for a direct invite at the upcoming Major, namely Digital Chaos. DC are the ESL One Genting Champions, title achieved at the beginning of January, and despite their shaky performance at Dota Pit Season 5 and the lost DAC grand finals qualifiers, the ESL trophy should be enough for them to be on Valve’s short list for the Major invites. This lowers the pressure for DC in their opening series from tomorrow.
However, not the same can be said about their first opponents, Wings Gaming. Who, in spite of their direct invite at this event, still have a lot to prove to be able to claim a Kiev Major direct Invite. Since their incredible TI6 run, Wings have struggled to stay at the top of their form and slowly faded away even in their own region. At the Boston Major they got crushed, therefore eliminated by EG in the first round of the playoffs bracket. In Dota 2 Professional League Season 2 they finished only on the 10th place, while at ESL One Genting they finished on the 3rd/4th spot. For Wings, ESL One Genting is also the last big event where they have been seen playing, and it’s worth mentioning that back then they lost their group stage series against DC.
Wings are notorious for their unconventional drafts and aggressiveness. Theoretically, the New Journey game update fits them as a glove and although they were far from a top performance in January, Wings have the potential to take the scene by storm once again. And they better do it this weekend at StarLadder i-League StarSeries LAN if they want to stay relevant in everyone’s eyes, including Valve.
But, if Wings are not the clear Chinese favorites of group B, who is it? The answer is simple, Vici Gaming J. Before rushing to disagree on this one, let’s just look at what Jeremy Lin’s squad did in the last few months.
The latest roster of VG.J, which was put together in the 2017 Spring Shuffle, saw one of the greatest support duos reunited. Fy rejoined his longtime friend Fenrir at VG J in December last year, and at the same time the team welcomed Freeze in the mid lane. Liu 'Freeze' Chang is one of the Chinese newcomers and SL i-League StarSeries will mark his first LAN appearance, but with rOtk, Agressif and the aforementioned duo support, VG J is set to deliver the big surprise this weekend.
They already have a great track record in regional tournaments and qualifiers, placing first for this event in the Chinese qualifiers brackets, emerging first in the DAC Chinese qualifiers groups, therefore securing another LAN presence, and placing first in the secondary division of Dota2 Professional League Season 2. So it’s safe to say that right now, of all the Chinese attendees at SL i-League StarSeries , VG. J are in fact the hottest.
Something similar can be said about their adversaries in the first series of Group B, Team Liquid. Liquid have been on a roller coaster since May 2016 when they reached the peak of their form with the EPICENTER trophy. The TI6 run was the first sign of troubles and they have tried to solve them in many different ways ever since. Role swaps were happening at Liquid with almost every game, up to the point where Kuro was the carry while MATUMBAMAN was discovering the support paths with Io. Nothing seemed to work out for them until a harder decision was made after failing to qualify for the Boston Major. BuLba was replaced with GH, and that was moment when Liquid started to look different. GH became their new shining star, which is not an easy thing to accomplish when you have Miracle- and MATUMBAMAN playing next to you.
With GH stepping in for DreamLeague Season 6, Liquid took the tournament trophy home, and went about crushing all the European qualifiers so far this year, their most impressing showing being at the DAC. GH has already made his LAN debut at DreamLeague so, SL i-League StarSeries #3 should not represent a problem for him from this point of view, which makes Team Liquid a strong contender for group B supremacy.
However, for a guaranteed direct Major invite, they have to at least reach the playoffs grand finals. If Liquid can get that far in China, even without taking the trophy home, it might just be enough for Valve, and past experiences teach us that a grand finals spot should do it. It happened before with Natus Vincere who received the TI 6 direct invite based on their second spot finish at ESL One Frankfurt 2016. Back then, the TI 6 invites were made public moments after the grand finals OG vs Na’VI concluded, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Kiev Majors invites being released right after the StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 comes to an end, Sunday, February 26.
Group B day one schedule:
February 24, 10:00 CST/03:00 CET: VG J vs Team Liquid
February 24, 13:00 CST/ 06:00 CET: Wings Gaming vs Digital Chaos
February 24, 16:00 CST/ 09:00 CET: TBD vs TBD (Winner‘s Final)
