Anticipation and excitement rise for The International 6 playoffs tomorrow

There’s no going back now. The International 6’s playoffs start tomorrow and with it the journey of these teams after a three days competition at group stage. Here’s what we have so far.

Few surprises were present from the group stage as it largely wasn’t what we expected. Several dark horses made their way into the upper bracket while some favorite teams fell short.

Group A saw Natus Vincere (Na`Vi) place among the bottom four teams in the group which translates into the need to fight their way out of the lower bracket. Similarly, Group B saw Manila Major finalists Team Liquid narrowly avoid a last-place finish in the standings. But while Group A only saw one of the favorites fall short of a spot in the upper bracket, Group B saw several favorites such as Fnatic and Team Secret fall into the lower half of the group.

Group B presented us with two surprises. Chinese Wild Card winners EHOME  gave some solid performance in the Wild Card event against Execration and Escape Gaming, and it appears to have turned their fortunes around as they enter the playoffs as the highest seed from Group B.

Likewise,  Digital Chaos’ run comes as a huge surprise. Despite the team’s individually-skilled roster, the European squad has had little to show for itself in terms of results. At TI6 none of the issues that plagued Digital Chaos in the past seem to be present, as the team’s victories against Newbee, Fnatic, Team Secret, and Team Liquid put them in second place in the group. Finally, the top of Group B was rounded out by Newbee and the South Korean MVP Phoenix roster.

Aside from the group stage’s surprises, the upper bracket consists of several teams that were anticipated to make a deep run in the soon-to-be $20 million event. Reigning world champions OG advanced as the top team of Group A, followed by Evil Geniuses, Wings Gaming, and Alliance.

The playoffs begin tomorrow, and it’s safe to say that no matter the outcome we will see at least two fan favorites exit the International 6 in last place.