posted by raiko_,
The first day of the European region's TI5 Qualifiers concludes with some unlikely standings in both of the groups; Finnish powerhouses fi STARK* top Group A, paralleled in Group B by Open Qualifier Champions ru Yellow Submarine, who found themselves second to fan favourites ua Natus Vincere. Could this be the end of a slump for the Ukranians, or will the sea-faring underdogs reign supreme in Group B?


Both groups were somewhat split by region, Group A containing 3 Scandanavian sides and only one CIS squad, as opposed to the 4 Eastern European squads making up Group B, including Open Qualifier winner Yellow Submarine, a side made up of largely unknown players. The difference in region did come into play in the kind of games we saw, with CIS teams playing their standard brand of high-octane aggressive Dota, while flashy plays were rife in the Western teams' games, resulting in some impressive kill scores.

Group A: Draws all round as Nemphy steers the ship



4ASC's Nemphy took charge of the ship
The day got off to a great start as we saw a Group A double header of draws, with 4ASC taking on se Alliance, and se Ninjas in Pyjamas* facing up against eu Burden United. Choosing which to watch was certainly a dilemma, but the all-Scandanavian matchup proved more exciting, with Game 1 stretching to almost an hour, eventually reaching a close as fi Sampsa Kari Hannes 'nemphy' Kutvonen's Shadow Fiend giving late game presence where the midgame beast of fi Lasse 'Matumbaman' Urpalainen's Leshrac was falling off.

The Finns clearly had enough of drawn-out games, and went for a much more aggressive approach to open their series against the group's lone CIS presence by Power Rangers*. Always an exciting hero to watch, a Tusk was picked up for fi Riku 'Buugi' Fält, which did wonders helping their Queen of Pain dominate against PR's Leshrac, a hero that has seen a 70% Pick Rate as well as the highest Hero Damage in a game in the EU Qualifiers so far.

Looking forward to the second and final day of group play, we see the all-Swedish (bar French Alliance support fr Sebastien 'Ceb' Debs) matchup of Alliance vs. NiP, as well as a chance for Power Rangers to get off the ground and pick up some points after a disspaointing first day. Check out all of the upcoming matches, as well as where to watch them on our TI5 Coverage Page.

Group B: Fan Favourites Na`Vi prove irreCIStible



The results of the second group will leave a lot of fanboys sleeping easy in their beds tonight, as many feared ua Natus Vincere would crumble following their initial 2:0 loss to Greek squad gr London Conspiracy*. A couple of incredibly lengthy games later and following some impressive performances from ua Alexander 'XBOCT' Dashkevich, the Ukranian outfit sit top of Group B, having played more games than anyone else so far in the region




Champions of the open qualifiers ru Yellow Submarine also impressed a fair amount finishing in second place at the end of today's matches, coming straight out of the box against Na`Vi-topplers LC with a 2:0 victory, featuring a throwback Sniper pick, which worked wonders to counter the attempted innovation from LC who opted for a Winter Wyvern.

Winter isn't too cursedBeing introduced into CM only recently, pros have just began to experiment with the hero, with it being picked up 4 times so far in the EU qualifiers with a 50% win rate and average 2.19 KDASitting at the bottom after a disspointing Day 1 are both ru Vega Squadron * and ru HellRaisers, both teams who had a decent run of results prior to the qualifiers, especially with Vega seeing the addition of experienced offlaner ua Andrey 'Mag' Chipenko to their roster. They drew against eachother in their matchup earlier today, with Vega carry player ru Pavel '9pasha' Khvastunov going absolutely ham with an Ursa in Game 1, finishing with a 24-0-11 KDA, tied for the most kills on an Ursa in a pro game.

As far as Day 2 goes, we will see if Na`Vi can retain top spot as they play just once against Yellow Submarine, a matchup that could prove crucial into deciding who takes the top spot, going into the upper barckets in the Qualifier's Playoffs. The last match of the day will see Vega facing up against LC, which judging by the two team's picks and playstyle so farshould be a match filled with lots of aggression, so surely one to watch.

Did the numbers hold true?



Our purely statistical outlook on the Europe qualifiers was certainly in the favour of Vega, something that has proven false so far, althought there is still a lot to play for going forward into Day 2.

Although the model did count out YeS somewhat, they have also pleasantly surprised many, and perhaps brought some people a lot of rares home. It seems like they've been able to rise to the ocassion, and are certainly a testament to the open qualifier model newly introduced this year by Valve.

What did you make of the start of the EU Qualifiers? Will the standings change going forward?



  • raiko_
    raiko_

    raiko_

    Felix Hanif-Banks
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