Team Secret and OG will battle out tonight in the Starladder i-League Invitational Season 3 European qualifiers finals.
Tonight’s European qualifiers finals weigh heavy on OG who have already fell short in the ESL One Hamburg -- major and PGL Open Bucharest -- minor qualifiers. SL i-League Invitational S3 is the first minor of the Pro Circuit and although there are only 300 qualifiers points allocated to this event, missing out the chance to participate at two events already, from which one of them is a major, can turn out as disastrous towards the end of the season. Of course, some may argue that we are just at the very beginning of the competitive circuit and not going to a few events can’t hurt that much. But missing the starting train can easily get a team into feeling the pressure really fast. By the end of 2017 there are six minors and two majors scheduled, with a total of 4,800 qualifier points on the line. The qualifiers points are of course distributed among the top 4 teams in each event, and this is exactly what makes each and every event participation more important than ever.
Take for example OG’s opponents from tonight's finals, Team Secret. They have already secured their presence at two minors (PGL Open Bucharest and PW Masters), one Major (ESL One Hamburg) and besides the possible win from tonight, which will book a fourth event for them, they also have to play for a spot at the AMD SAPPHIRE Dota Pit -- minor. So, by the end of this month only, Team Secret will know if they have 5 events secured and a chance at getting a minimum 75 qualifier points from these events. The 75 points in discussion are calculated assuming that all the aforementioned events will separate 3rd and 4th place finishers and assuming that Team Secret will finish on the 4th place at all these events. Again, keep in mind that it’s very likely for them to end up on a higher place and then, the amount of the qualifier points will grow exponentially.
Quick reminder on how the qualifier points work at every minor and major:
- Each minor, except the ESL One event from January next year, has 300 points to offer
- Each major, except the very last one of the Pro Circuit, from June next year, has 1500 points to offer.
Points Distribution:
For tournaments that don't differentiate between third and fourth place, the point distribution is as follows:
- 1st: 50%
- 2nd: 30%
- 3rd/4th: 10% each
For tournaments that do differentiate between third and fourth place, the point distribution is as follows:
- 1st: 50%
- 2nd: 30%
- 3rd: 15%
- 4th: 5%
Taking into account all these, and given the fact that OG are yet to qualify for one of the starting events of the Pro Circuit, tonight’s qualifier grand finals against Team Secret are crucial for them. The series will be played in a best-of-three format and the two teams have already played against each other recently, in the same event, upper bracket finals where Secret took the victory 2-1. OG fought for their survival in the lower bracket finals where they took down 2-0 the polish roster of Team Kinguin.
Team Secret vs OG grand finals will commence tonight, September 26 at 18:00 CEST and will be covered in the English, Russian, and Chinese languages.
Englis: twitch.tv/dotastarladder_en
Russian stream: stream: twitch.tv/starladder1
Chinese stream: panda.tv/hd/starladder.html
