How Empire probably reacted to the groupsTeams in group A must be ecstatic to avoid both Liquid and Vega
The website for the upcoming Shanghai Major has been updated to include the groups of the upcoming Regional Qualifiers. The groups, in particular for Europe, do not look particularly balanced which could lead to a heavy favourite being eliminated early on. Team Liquid and Vega looked the biggest contenders for the spot in the main event but have been drawn together in group B, which suggests the groups were not seeded, which is not uncommon.
On paper
Vega Squadron * and 
Team Liquid are the strongest teams in the European Regionals. Vega took 3rd at GameShow, 5th at DreamLeague and finished 9-12th in the Frankfurt Major. Mmeanwhile Team Liquid won The Defense Season V, finished 4th at the Nanyang Championships and 3rd at WCA 2015. The only team who came close in terms of performance is Team Empire who won GameShow in December, but their form has only come in the last month with the addition of
Gleb 'Funn1k' Lipatnikov and Alexander 'XBOCT' Dashkevich after a fairly unstable couple of months.However, Empire were luckily drawn into group A with
HellRaisers, Natus Vincere and Spirit (former CISR), none of which have put together a strong run of form in the last few months, although Navi seem to have steered the ship steady since December. The way the European groups have panned out could end up making them more interesting, with a new patch and a new year, the Major Regional group stage could alter the power structure in Europe radically.
Team Liquid will face Vega in Group BMuch the same story elsewhere
The American groups are a similar story with group A the more formidable group. WCA participants
Planet Odd* and 
Leviathan find themselves in group A, along with Team Archon* and 
Void Boys*. In comparison group B's only really proven team is compLexity Gaming. The other three teams are slightly rusty 
Not Today* and two new mix teams; Power of Friendship* and the remade Cloud9 roster with Arif 'MSS' Anwar, Shazam*.In China LGD Gaming and iG were put together and in SEA Mineski and TNC were also paired up, and what with Fnatic and MVP.Phoenix yet to rekindle the form they had in mid-2015, it would appear on paper that none of the regions have particularly balanced groups. Could it make for a more gripping Regional Qualifiers?
What do you think of the groups? Who are your favourites?
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