While eight teams received direct invites to the upcoming Shanghai Major, hundreds of teams across the world battled for the final eight regional qualifying positions, with some surprises cropping up in the field of 16. Let's take a look at those lucky eight teams, starting with a group that arguably should have earned a direct invite to the tourney ...
Team Liquid
It's not that I wasn't impressed by Team Alliance's victory at World Cyber Arena -- which seemingly guaranteed their spot at the Shanghai Major -- I just thought Team Liquid did enough damage, namely defeating the reigning Frankfurt Major champs OG at The Defense Season 5, throughout the last two months to warrant a direct invite. Thankfully, they blitzed through the Main Qualifiers, dropping just two games en route to capturing the first of two European spots. As long as MATUMBAMAN continues to put together KDA lines like he did in the two-game European Main Qualifier Winner's Finals against Team Spirit (22/6/26), Team Liquid could, and probably should, be considered a contender come February.
Team Spirit
While Team Liquid edged out the newly formed Russian team for the first of two European qualifiers, Team Spirit (TS) showed quite a bit of promise in the Losers' Finals, thoroughly thrashing a Team Empire squad that seemed to be heading into the deciding matchup on a high note. However, the deciding moment in Team Spirit's run may not have come from their annihilation of Empire, but rather a fortunate win in the Group Stage. TS was the beneficiary of a major gaff by Mama's Boys in the Group Stage of the Main Qualifier, and it's this kind of ingenuity that can allow any team to make a run at a Major championship. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Team Archon
If you look at just their whole body of work last year, you would have thought that Team Archon was the dark horse of the American Open Qualifiers, only finding the podium in the SL i-League StarSeries: America. But it was that tourney, which ended in a tough 2-1 series loss to complexity Gaming, that put the team on the map. While I'm not sure Archon is the best team in North America (EvilGeniuses certainly has the crown at the moment) their compelling rivalry with CG as of late certainly gives them a bit of credence to fall on. Their up-and-down performance against Digital Chaos in the Upper Bracket final (57-55 in a three-game series) isn't exactly reassuring, but Jeyo's emergence as a dominant force in the series, where he put together a 21/4/18 KDA line in his team's two victories, could be a precursor of things to come, as long as they fall in a favorable group bracket.
complexity Gaming
compLexity did post the best record of all the teams participating in the Round Robin portion of the Americas Main Qualifiers, but their somewhat-surprising loss against Team Archon in the upper-bracket semis forced them to run through the Losers side of the bracket to earn the second qualifying position. Thanks to a truly terrifying two-game onslaught against Shazam by Limmp and Chessie 2 -- or as only I call them, the Brothers of Destruction -- coL found themselves in a heated matchup against Digitial Chaos for the final qualifying spot. Despite an ugly performance in Game 2 of the series, in which Limmp and Chessie 2 combined for just four kills and 12 deaths, the brotherly duo put together an impressive 32/5/38 KDA in Games 1 and 3, solidifying their spot in Shanghai come February. I think coL certainly has some limitations as a team, but so long as Limmp and Chessie 2 can continue their hot streak, they will always have an opportunity to make some noise in any given tournament.
LGD Gaming
LGD waltzed through what many considered to be one of the most difficult regional qualifying rounds in the world, only dropping one game to Team FanTuan and Newbee en route to the first of two China qualifying positions. It'll be interesting to see who, between Sylar and Maybe, becomes the main offensive threat for LGD in Shanghai, as both players had their moments against Invictus Gaming's new youth squad, iG Vitality, in the upper-bracket Finals. While some pundits may dismiss LGD after their disappointing performance at the last major in Frankfurt, this appears to be a different team, capable of taking it to any team currently qualified for Shanghai.
Newbee
For me, I believe Newbee will only go so far as Hao can carry them. The ultra-aggressive carry threat took it to iG Vitality in the Losers' Finals, amassing a strong 26/1/19 KDA in the two-game series. In fact, his Game 2 performance was so dominant that his GPM total (706) was over half of what iG Vitality was able to collect (1,354) as a team. While I hardly expect Hao to put forth those kinds of numbers against some of the best teams in the world, Newbee will certainly need their carry to perform at his absolute best if they expect to advance deep into the second major of the year.
Fnatic
This next sentence also applies for MVP Phoenix, who advanced into the Shanghai Major as the second SEA Qualifer, but I've watched enough NFL in my life to know that beating up on lesser opponents doesn't necessarily make you one of the best teams in the world (here's looking at you, Washington Redskins!). But man oh man, does Fnatic appear to be looking good. Their utter two-game dismantling of the aforementioned MVP squad in the upper-bracket Finals was one of the best performances in the entire qualifiers, and it certainly seems like the team is firing on all cylinders. What makes them dangerous, and all the more difficult to game plan for, is their willingness to attack from all angles. Mushi and BangFish will rightfully get all the credit for their carry abilities, but Chrissy, Net and Ohaiyo were also able to contribute a few kills in both games against MVP. It's that kind of five-pronged attack that forces opponents to stay on their toes and makes Fnatic another team capable of wreaking havoc in Shanghai.
MVP Phoenix
MVP made quick work of an over-matched First Departure team in the lower-bracket finals, putting together a 62-14 score over the two-game series. In particular, their Game 2 opening-game bloodbath, in which the team managed to kill all five Departure members before the one-minute mark, was a clear indication of the discrepancy in skill. I'm wary to suggest MVP Phoenix will make some noise in Shanghai, just based on the principle that I outlined with Fnatic above, but it's clear this team has the ability to compete at the highest level. Whether they have a chance at winning it all, well, that still remains to be seen.