The Kuala Lumpur Major road to the Grand Final

The Kuala Lumpur Major is approaching its Grand Final. But before we get there, there are 4 more important matches to be played. One in the Upper Bracket and the other 3 in the Lower Bracket.

The Upper Bracket

Quite surprisingly, the last two teams in the Upper Bracket of The Kuala Lumpur Major are Team Secret and Virtus.pro. I honestly did expect VP to be here, as I have already mentioned in my previous article, but I certainly did not expect Team Secret to defeat the TI 8 finalist, PSG.LGD.

Yet here we are. Secret somehow managed to beat PSG.LGD while Virtus.pro had an easy match against Ninjas in Pyjamas. This next encounter between these two giants could go either way, although I do expect Team Secret to prevail. I mean, since they managed to beat PSG.LGD, I think they should be able to beat Virtus.pro as well.

The Lower Bracket

In the Lower Bracket of The Kuala Lumpur Major we’re left with 3 teams: Ninjas in Pyjamas, PSG.LGD and Evil Geniuses. The first match will take place between the final 2.

PSG.LGD vs. Evil Geniuses

These two teams met each other before at The International 2018, in this exact format. Back then the stakes were higher, as the winner of the match was going to advance to the Grand Final of the 8th TI.

However, this match is still crucial for both of these teams, as it provides the opportunity to earn a lot more money and qualification points. In the eventuality of one of these teams making it all the way to the Grand Final of The Kuala Lumpur, the rewards a great enough that the finalist will almost certainly qualify for The International 2019 regardless of what may happen in the final 8 Minors and Majors of the season.

Last time these two teams met, PSG.LGD won in a decisive manner. I expect things to go the same way in their next match, unless PSG.LGD got demoralized after losing its match against Secret. That’s very unlikely for a team of this caliber so I think the Chinese squad will take this match 2 – 1.

Whoever wins this dispute will get to play against NiP, arguably a weaker team than both of the ones previously mentioned.