The last week of the Starladder X EU's group stage is upon us, and while the top four seems set in stone - it can all change in a New York minute. TT still lead,while SecretTeam, Na'Vi, Alliance and Cloud 9 are tied in second at this point, but with the minor differences in points, no-one is safe.
After another week of SLTV has ended, the top spots have become harder to predict. Team Tinker is still leading the way with a 10-2 record, but the other teams at the top are not so clearly defined. The difference in scores are so minor that many of the teams with games left to play have a legitimate chance to earn one of the spots at the main event.
SecretTeam, Na'Vi, Alliance and Cloud 9 are all tied for second place with 9 points each. Cloud 9 is in the most trouble, having played all 15 of their matches. Na'Vi still have two games to play, and Secret a whopping five matchups. Team Tinker are close to a guaranteed spot in the top four, as only Secret, Na'Vi and Virtus Pro still have the potential to surpass the 10 points they hold at the moment, but quite a few teams have the potential to score an equal amount of points, turning it into a tie. It is important to note that VP have only played 8 matches, so even though they only have 5 points, they could still rack up 7 more.
Upsets were at a low the past week, the only notable ones being AlbumSheet beating Team Empire and Kompass Gaming winning against Alliance. Kompass, being an underdog, have managed to beat Alliance, Cloud 9, Empire and Virtus.pro Polar thus far, however having conceded eight losses in total, the team is already out in the running for the top four. In general however, the mist is clearing over who the top competitors are even after the recent changes in Dota 2.
The deciding games in the final week will be when the leading teams face up against each other. Team Secret will play against Na'Vi and Team Tinker, while Virtus Pro have seven matches in which to prove their worth. The matches start tomorrow at 17:00 CEST when HellRaisers meet MYM. For coverage and scheduling information on the event, visit our coverage hub.
