We’re less than two weeks away from the Shanghai Major tournament, with the eight qualifying teams ready to join the directly invited teams in the group stage event later this week. The group stage event will determine main event bracket seeds, with the top two winners from each group starting in the upper bracket, and the losers starting in the single elimination lower bracket. Let’s take a look at the lineup as it stands:
Qualified Teams
- Team Archon (America Qualifier)
- Won 2-1 in the winners bracket, sending Digital Chaos to the losers bracket.
- Complexity Gaming (America Qualifier)
- Also won 2-1 against Digital Chaos, this time in the losers bracket.
- Team Liquid (Europe Qualifier)
- Won 2-0 against Team Spirit in the winners bracket.
- Team Spirit (Europe Qualifier)
- Won 2-0 in the losers bracket against Team Empire, redeeming themselves, and gaining a spot in the group stage event.
- Fnatic (SEA Qualifier)
- Won 2-0 against MVP Phoenix in the winners bracket.
- MVP Phoenix (Sea Qualifier)
- Won 2-0 in the same scenario as Team Spirit, claiming victory over First Departure in the losers bracket.
- LGD Gaming (China Qualifier)
- Won 2-0 against iG Vitality in the winners bracket.
- Newbee (China Qualifier)
- Won 2-0 against iG Vitality, completing their winning streak in the losers bracket, and securing their spot in the group stage event.
- As winner of The International 4 (TI4), they’re sure to put up a good fight throughout this tournament!
Directly Invited Teams
- OG
- A very new European team. They formed last October, just in time to win first prize in the Frankfurt Major.
- Evil Geniuses (EG)
- Winner of The International 5 (TI5).
- Pretty much the “All American” Dota 2 Team. Okay, not quite, but they’re mostly American.
- Team Secret
- Basically the European EG equivalent. They may not hold an Aegis of Champions, but they did beat EG in the Frankfurt Major this past fall, earning second place against OG.
- EHOME
- Chinese Powerhouse. A big threat to both EG and OG, but that is frequently the case.
- CDEC Gaming
- The Chinese Cinderella team. In TI5 last year, CDEC entered the main event as a wild card, continued through the group stage event within the top 2 places the entire time, and won every single game in the main event until the championship match, where they came in second to Evil Geniuses.
- Vici Gaming
- Another Chinese team. Vici Gaming made it far in TI5 and the Frankfurt Major, though not far enough to claim first place. This tournament could be their chance!
- Virtus.pro
- The big Russian team. Though they didn’t make it past the third round of the main bracket in either TI5 or the Frankfurt Major, they’re still a serious contender in the competitive scene!
- Alliance
- Winner of TI3, and first place winners of many subsequent tournaments.
Featured Image Shanghai Major Logo courtesy of dota2.com
