posted by Abelle,
China: 6 Regional Slots (1 Invite)
Southeast Asia: 5 Regional Slots (3 Invites)
North America: 6 Regional Slots (2 Invites)
South America: 6 Regional Slots (0 Invites)
Europe: 4 Regional Slots (4 Invites)
CIS: 6 Regional Slots (2 Invites)
China is the only region with an odd 7-team regional qualifier. Every other region adds up to eight. Still, having so many slots from opens to regionals doesn't mean that making it through will be easy. The event follows the same format it always has - a single elimination bracket with single-game series all the way through to the semifinal round.
It's still unclear whether the full bracket will be played out in cases where multiple teams advance from a single open qualifier, but that format is the one listed on FACEIT's registration page.
With hundreds of teams joining each region, a single misstep can threaten any team's chances of making TI. Thankfully there are still two open qualifiers per region, so even though there is no lower bracket there's still a second chance for everyone.
China
EHOME
Chen 'Cty' Tianyu
Wang 'Old chicken' Zhiyong
Hu 'Guvara' Sen
Zhang 'Faith Bian' Ruida
Zhang 'y`' Yiping
Chen 'Cty' Tianyu
Wang 'Old chicken' Zhiyong
Hu 'Guvara' Sen
Zhang 'Faith Bian' Ruida
Zhang 'y`' Yiping
China may already have four teams through to the main event of TI8 but there's still a ton of talent left in the pool, most of whom have shuffled at some point since the roster lock. That means a crazy stacked open qualifier for us to enjoy! The likes of LFY, who even took some DPC points this season, will face against strong contenders like EHOME and KEEN.
There's even reports that a reborn Team DK exists, with BurNIng at the helm. We'll believe it when we see it, but can't resist getting more than a little bit excited at the possibility of seeing such a legendary squad return.
SEA
Clutch Gamers
Lai Jay 'Ah Jit' Son
Kim Villafuerte 'Gabbi' Santos
Haris 'SkyLark' Zafiriou
Marvin 'Boomy' Rushton
Vladimir 'Yol' Basov
Lai Jay 'Ah Jit' Son
Kim Villafuerte 'Gabbi' Santos
Haris 'SkyLark' Zafiriou
Marvin 'Boomy' Rushton
Vladimir 'Yol' Basov
Entity Gaming
Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier
Jure 'Pingvincek' Plešej
Mikki 'Hestejoe-Rotten' Junget
Danny 'NoiA' Junget
Job Real 'JobeeEZy' Ramos
Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier
Jure 'Pingvincek' Plešej
Mikki 'Hestejoe-Rotten' Junget
Danny 'NoiA' Junget
Job Real 'JobeeEZy' Ramos
Tigers
Tho Van '458' Trinh
Muhammad 'inYourdreaM' Rizky
Lee 'Ky.xY' Kong Yang
Kenny 'Xepher' Deo
Theeban '1437' Siva
The Southeast Asian scene this season has mostly been overshadowed by either Mineski or, to a lesser extent, TNC. With Mineski through to Vancouver and TNC waiting patiently in regionals, we're excited to see how the talented teams toiling away in the shadows have shaped up. These three are just a sampling of the talent waiting to show us what they've got in this open qualifier.
North America
Evil Geniuses
Artour 'Arteezy' Babaev
Sumail 'SumaiL' Syed Hassan
Gustav 's4' Magnusson
Andreas 'Cr1t-' Nielsen
Tal 'Fly' Aizik
Artour 'Arteezy' Babaev
Sumail 'SumaiL' Syed Hassan
Gustav 's4' Magnusson
Andreas 'Cr1t-' Nielsen
Tal 'Fly' Aizik
Forward Gaming
Yawar 'YawaR' Hassan
Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok
JingJun 'Sneyking' Wu
Arif 'MSS' Anwar
Avery 'SVG' Silverman
Yawar 'YawaR' Hassan
Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok
JingJun 'Sneyking' Wu
Arif 'MSS' Anwar
Avery 'SVG' Silverman
compLexity Gaming
David 'Moo' Hull
Linus 'Limmp' Blomdin
David 'Moonmeander' Tan
Zakari 'ZfreeK' Freedman
Adam Erwann 'Adam' Shah
Remember North America, the world's most competitive region? They like competition so much that they've all shuffled rosters to ensure even footing going into TI. Not even the titans of EG will bypass the open qualifier this year. It's going to be crazy, it's going to be hype. You're not going to want to miss it.
South America
SG e-sports
Guilherme 'Costabile' Silva Costabilé
Adriano '4DR' Machado
Rodrigo 'Lelis' Santos
Francis 'FLee' Lee
Stanley 'Stan King' Yang
Europe
OG
Anathan 'ana' Pham
Topias 'Topson' Taavitsainen
Sebastien 'Ceb' Debs
Jesse 'JerAx' Vainikka
Johan 'BigDaddyN0tail' Sundstein
Europe was the region that managed to keep the most teams together from the roster lock this year, meaning there are an even four invites and four open qualifier slots. All three of these teams could make it through to regionals, but they're just a few stand-out names.
The European qualifier is loaded with recognizable faces. Will the likes of OG or Misery's new stack might not even make it to regionals. Even though the teams are big names, the recent shuffle means we have no way of knowing if they'll have stabilized in time.
CIS
Natus Vincere
Vladislav 'Crystallize' Krystanek
Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin
Viktor 'GeneRaL' Nigrini
Fedor 'velheor' Rusihin
Ilya 'Lil' Ilyuk
Vladislav 'Crystallize' Krystanek
Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin
Viktor 'GeneRaL' Nigrini
Fedor 'velheor' Rusihin
Ilya 'Lil' Ilyuk
Team Spirit
Ilya 'Illidan Stormrage' Pivtsaev
Sergey 'God' Bragin
Olexandr 'DkPhobos' Kucherya
Malthe 'Biver' Winther
Artem 'fng' Barshack
Ilya 'Illidan Stormrage' Pivtsaev
Sergey 'God' Bragin
Olexandr 'DkPhobos' Kucherya
Malthe 'Biver' Winther
Artem 'fng' Barshack
Team Empire
Aibek 'Naive-' Tokayev
Rostislav 'fn' Lozovoi
Andrey 'Ghostik' Kadyk
Evgeny 'Chuvash' Makarov
Yaroslav 'Miposhka' Naidenov
Unfortunately for the CIS, only one squad from the many talented teams in opens and the two teams invited to regionals will make it to The International. Competition in the region is as fierce as ever, and former superstars can be found left and right in open qualifier teams. Take Team Spirit for instance - almost the entire lineup once competed together on stage at TI5, and now here they are.
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