Quincy Crew defeated NoPing Esports 2-1 at the Kyiv Major in a series with a crazy back and forth last game to mathematically ensure qualification to TI10.
Image: WePlay Esports
For a while, the discussion has been how teams on 800 DPC points have an over 99% change to get the direct invite to TI10. Even though that’s nice, it’s better to know that you’ve crossed the threshold and then breathe a sigh of relief, which is exactly what Quincy Crew did with their win over NoPing Esports at the WePlay AniMajor.
The series started with a very one sided game in favor of Quincy Crew, giving the impression the top South American team wasn’t a match for their North American counterparts. But NoPing came to life in game 2, taking it comfortably. It was game 3 where all the craziness unfolded. The game was so back and forth that the net worth, experience and win probability graphs kept switching from one team to the other.
Quincy Crew took an early lead in the game, but NoPing recovered from the bad laning stage. It was a relatively even game, when Quincy Crew won a fight and tried to go high ground, but did so with Metamorphosis and BKBs on cooldown. Buybacks from NoPing not only held on to their barracks, but they also turned it around and went out to get their own set of barracks!
The same process repeated, with Quincy Crew winning a fight, getting a barracks and then diving tier 4 towers instead of getting another set of barracks. NoPing’s Abaddon, who respawned at the perfect time as Quincy Crew were diving past the tier 4s, managed to save his Luna and Leshrac with some clutch Glimmer Cape and Aphotic Shield usage. The process repeated, as NoPing won the team fight that ensued and went on to take another set of barracks, the tier 4s and started hitting the Ancient. The only thing between them and a direct invite to TI10 was 2500 HP on the enemy Ancient, but Quincy Crew had the required defense. With a Terrorblade buyback and a clutch Sunder to save his Viper, QC held on long enough to get everyone back and go to the opposite end of the map and end the game. For the last defense, Terrorblade did not have enough gold for buyback. But his team picked up the 39 minute bounties and were able to get enough gold to get him back into the game.
With the win, QC jump to 1100 points and are now assured a direct invite to TI10. They take on T1 in their next series to try and secure a place in the upper bracket final of the WePlay AniMajor. NoPing on the other hand, are demoted to the lower bracket and will have to fight it out against Evil Geniuses to stay in the tournament. Instead of being on 885 points, the loss keeps them at 585 points. If they lose to EG or even the game after EG, NoPing go home with zero points and will have to play in the TI10 South American qualifiers. Currently, no teams from South America have sealed their invite to Stockholm. Beastcoast are the closest with 800 points, but they will know what their fate is only once the Kyiv Major plays out.
In the final series of the day, Nigma advanced in the upper bracket with a 2-0 win over Virtus Pro. The series was supposed to be the second one in the day, but Nigma’s mid laner, Amer "Miracle” Barkawi suffered from food poisoning at the start of the first game, and the series had to be postponed. Virtus Pro, who went 7-0 in the Eastern European region in both the DPC seasons, did not seem to be a match for the resurgent Nigma. VP will face Vici Gaming in the lower bracket tomorrow, in a bid to make a case for the strength of the CIS region, while Nigma will try and continue their winning form with a faceoff against arguably the strongest looking team in the Major till now, PSG.LGD.
