After 4 weeks of play, 8 teams have risen from the group stage to enter the playoffs for HTC Ascension. In a surprising turnaround from starting the tournament off 0–2, the ShorterACE-led Serpentis eSports went on a 5–0 run to top Group B. Along the way, they defeated strong contenders Zenith eSports 2–0 and took down fan favorites Top Dog Gaming in a the final week to clinch the first seed. On the other side of the bracket, they will be joined by Team Liquid Academy, whose 2–1 victory over Cloud9 Challenger in the final week gave them the semifinals bye. TLA faced stiff competition in Group A, having lost 0–2 to third seed Also Known As, but defeating second seed Team Frostbite.
Seeded into the quarterfinals are Team Frostbite and Team Zenith for finishing second in Group A and B respectively. Both have shown versatility, ability to play a lot of different things and being quick to adapt to the new patch. Zenith's jungler Contractz, previously unseen in the challenger scene, has become a huge force this tournament, making highlight reels with his flashy plays and giving hope to the state of NA jungle talent. Meanwhile, Frostbite’s midlaner Wolfe, who was last on Team Imagine, has been a linchpin of his team’s success, continuing to put up impressive stat lines on his control mages.
Also Known As, who are currently on a six-match win streak after losing to Frostbite in Week 1, will go up against Robert Morris University in the first quarterfinal of the competition. After adding former NME top laner Flaresz, AKA became one of the best teams in the tournament. The exceptional play of their support, Biofrost, was also a major part of their success. RMU had their time in the spotlight after winning their first four games, completely dominating the lower ranked teams in the group, but losses to Zenith and Top Dog dropped them to third place in the final standings.
With the addition of Flaresz and the importance of top lane in the preseason patches, AKA will pose significant threat against RMU's line up. Despite RMU's victory last week over Team Ares and their respectable top laner Chunkyfresh, Flaresz is a completely different beast. In RMU’s losses, top laner West Coast Carry has struggled, and he will be facing stiff competition against the 6–1 team from Group A. Holding hope for RMU are the two carries, Gillette and TriggeRL, who have had an exceptional tournament: racking up multiple double-digit kill games thus far. AD Carry TriggeRL has especially been impressive, often having high KDAs even in RMU’s losses. Should AKA win in the end, their showdown against Zenith later this week could provide the best series of the tournament thus far. The combination of each teams’ explosive playstyle and Patch 5.23 would be quite a show. However, the eventual winner of the quarterfinal match will have to face TLA, which might prove to be too much for either of them.
Predictions
Ro8: AKA 2-0 RMU
Ro6: AKA 2-1 Zenith eSports
Ro4: TL Academy 2-1 AKA
On the other side of the bracket, Top Dog Gaming will play against Cloud 9 Challenger in the second opening round match. The recent addition of former Team8 carry Slooshi to the midlane drastically boosts their chances of success for TDG. The duo of LOD & Slooshi with Akaadian’s support from the jungle is a fearsome force to face, especially for C9C. The challenger team from Cloud9 has struggled in the group stage, only narrowly securing a playoff berth after beating Mentality in Week 4. KEITHMCBRIEF is going to play alongside his third support of the tournament, Trance, formerly of Team Fusion and Team Ares. Former CLG Black jungler Thinkcard will also be joining the team in their attempt to advance further in playoffs.
Despite the new additions to C9C’s roster, Top Dog is likely to prevail in the end, having had another week of practice on Patch 5.23. The C9 core of Solo, Goldenglue, and KEITHMCBRIEF were pretty shaky during the group stage and with new additions to the roster will have a hard time fighting the synergy from TDG. Awaiting the winner will be Team Frostbite. During the group stage, Frostbite were often seen as the best team in the tournament. However, after losing to TLA in their head-to-head match, they couldn’t close out the group in first place. Still, they’ll likely cruise through this part of the bracket and seek revenge against TLA in the grand finals. Of course, Serpentis can’t be underestimated either, after their winstreak run to clinch first place in Group B.
Predictions
Ro8: TDG 2-1 C9 Challenger
Ro6: Frostbite 2-0 TDG
Ro4: Frostbite 2-1 Serpentis
Finals
TL Academy 3-1 Frostbite
Seeded into the quarterfinals are Team Frostbite and Team Zenith for finishing second in Group A and B respectively. Both have shown versatility, ability to play a lot of different things and being quick to adapt to the new patch. Zenith's jungler Contractz, previously unseen in the challenger scene, has become a huge force this tournament, making highlight reels with his flashy plays and giving hope to the state of NA jungle talent. Meanwhile, Frostbite’s midlaner Wolfe, who was last on Team Imagine, has been a linchpin of his team’s success, continuing to put up impressive stat lines on his control mages.
Playoffs Bracket (A side)
Also Known As, who are currently on a six-match win streak after losing to Frostbite in Week 1, will go up against Robert Morris University in the first quarterfinal of the competition. After adding former NME top laner Flaresz, AKA became one of the best teams in the tournament. The exceptional play of their support, Biofrost, was also a major part of their success. RMU had their time in the spotlight after winning their first four games, completely dominating the lower ranked teams in the group, but losses to Zenith and Top Dog dropped them to third place in the final standings.
With the addition of Flaresz and the importance of top lane in the preseason patches, AKA will pose significant threat against RMU's line up. Despite RMU's victory last week over Team Ares and their respectable top laner Chunkyfresh, Flaresz is a completely different beast. In RMU’s losses, top laner West Coast Carry has struggled, and he will be facing stiff competition against the 6–1 team from Group A. Holding hope for RMU are the two carries, Gillette and TriggeRL, who have had an exceptional tournament: racking up multiple double-digit kill games thus far. AD Carry TriggeRL has especially been impressive, often having high KDAs even in RMU’s losses. Should AKA win in the end, their showdown against Zenith later this week could provide the best series of the tournament thus far. The combination of each teams’ explosive playstyle and Patch 5.23 would be quite a show. However, the eventual winner of the quarterfinal match will have to face TLA, which might prove to be too much for either of them.
Predictions
Ro8: AKA 2-0 RMU
Ro6: AKA 2-1 Zenith eSports
Ro4: TL Academy 2-1 AKA
Playoffs Bracket (B side)
On the other side of the bracket, Top Dog Gaming will play against Cloud 9 Challenger in the second opening round match. The recent addition of former Team8 carry Slooshi to the midlane drastically boosts their chances of success for TDG. The duo of LOD & Slooshi with Akaadian’s support from the jungle is a fearsome force to face, especially for C9C. The challenger team from Cloud9 has struggled in the group stage, only narrowly securing a playoff berth after beating Mentality in Week 4. KEITHMCBRIEF is going to play alongside his third support of the tournament, Trance, formerly of Team Fusion and Team Ares. Former CLG Black jungler Thinkcard will also be joining the team in their attempt to advance further in playoffs.
Despite the new additions to C9C’s roster, Top Dog is likely to prevail in the end, having had another week of practice on Patch 5.23. The C9 core of Solo, Goldenglue, and KEITHMCBRIEF were pretty shaky during the group stage and with new additions to the roster will have a hard time fighting the synergy from TDG. Awaiting the winner will be Team Frostbite. During the group stage, Frostbite were often seen as the best team in the tournament. However, after losing to TLA in their head-to-head match, they couldn’t close out the group in first place. Still, they’ll likely cruise through this part of the bracket and seek revenge against TLA in the grand finals. Of course, Serpentis can’t be underestimated either, after their winstreak run to clinch first place in Group B.
Predictions
Ro8: TDG 2-1 C9 Challenger
Ro6: Frostbite 2-0 TDG
Ro4: Frostbite 2-1 Serpentis
Finals
TL Academy 3-1 Frostbite