With a tidy 2:0 sweep through the revamped Team NP squad, Thunderbirds have claimed a spot for the Epicenter Moscow 2017 LAN to battle it out for a slice of the $500,000 prize pool next month.
Thunderbirds were directly invited to participate in the qualifiers, but showed a rocky start out of the gate. They fell rather easily to isGG (the stack including Yawar "YawaR" Hassan - brother of famed Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan). It was in the lower brackets that the team found their fire and started to take flight once again - usurping the Brazilian wonders SG-eSports in a overwhelming fashion and then proceeded to continue with a spate of undefeated series - knocking out Elite Wolves, compLexity Gaming and exacting their revenge on isGG.
Finding themselves face to face against the new iteration of Team NP, Thunderbirds didn't flinch and proved they were the lower bracket and ultimately qualifier kings without question.
Just prior to the start of Kiev Major, the now named Thunderbirds squad had parted ways with the Digital Chaos organization and set out on their own. The Mix European and North American team had a disappointing run at the Kiev Major - having the unfortunate luck to be matched up against Evil Geniuses in the first elimination round 2:0 resulting in a 9-16th place finisih overall.
To redeem themselves and find an invite to TI7, the North American based team would need a stand out performance and title from one of the upcoming LANs - for Thunderbirds it would mean Summit 7 with qualifiers still underway or now their chance at EPICENTER Moscow 2017.
EPICENTER 2017 Format:
EPICENTER: Moscow will be split into several stages
Group Stage:
- 10 Teams: Six invited teams will be joined by four qualifiers from four regions
- June 4th to 7th
- Two groups of 5 teams each
- Top 3 teams of each group continue to the play-offs
Main Event:
- Held at VTB Ice Palace from June 9th to 11th
- Top seed from each group proceed directly to the semi-finals
- The four 2nd and 3rd placed teams proceed to the quarter-finals
- Single-elimination bracket
EPICENTER 2017 Regional Prize Pool:
The tournament boasts a $500 000 prize pool split among all ten participating teams
1st Place: $250 000
2nd Place: $100 000
3rd and 4th Place: $40 000
5th and 6th Place: $20 000
7th and 8th Place: $10 000
9th and 10th Place: $5000
Feature image courtesy of PGL
