posted by HolyMaster,
Are the dominant days of
The Alliance and 
Natus Vincere over? While it's defintely too early for such a conclusion, both giants have serious issues during the groupstage of MLG Columbus, with very different outcomes. While Na'Vi finally conquered a top four position, the current world champion from Sweden suffered a major setback. Four wins in eight games wasn't enough to survive.While almost everyone was fighting for their lives until the last match, two teams made it to the playoffs comfortably.
Team DK dominated throughout the whole stage, succeeding in seven of their eight matches. This impressive record makes them the clear favourite for the upcoming playoffs. While the superb performance of DK wasn't too unexpected for most of the viewers, the score of 
Sigma.int is a gigantic surprise. With barely remarkable results so far - most notable is the recent victory at Bigpoint Battle - the Western European mix came to America as an underdog, but made it through with six wins, only losing to Alliance and DK.Meanwhile the local teams
Evil Geniuses and Pretty Boy Swag failed to keep up with the rest. Early victories over Fnatic and PBS gave EG hope during the first day, but they were denied an additional triumph, finishing witha dissappointing 2-6 record. Meanwhile PBS, who reached this event through a qualifier, remained without a chance and lost all games.This left five teams competing for two remaining slots in the semifinals. Besides Na'Vi and Alliance, both
Fnatic as well as Team Liquid started out decently and were serious contendors until the last round. But even though Fnatic won the supposedly deciding final match against the Americans, it turned out to not be enough for them. The reason was a sensational run from 
Speed Gaming.Speed started out with three consecutive losses on Friday, to Alliance, Sigma, and Fnatic. But one day later the half European, half American lineup suddenly destroyed everyone. After already achieving four victories in a row, they even beat the so far undefeated DK to secure their spot in the semifinals. Previous to that, Na'Vi had won their final matches versus Alliance and Fnatic. This left Alliance, Fnatic, and Liquid eliminated.
Due to the head to head comparison with Na'Vi, Speed took the third place. Therefore they'll meet Sigma in the best of three semifinals tomorrow. Meanwhile Na'Vi has to put up with DK.
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