What requirements does your favorite North American team need in order to compete in the Summer Season Finals? Well, there are many possible scenarios, each dependent upon a certain team’s action. In short, each team controls their own destiny. Seeds 3-6 are up for grabs! Nonetheless, it is going to be a blast jumping into the final week. And, without further ado, let’s (attempt) to break down all possible scenarios.



Remember the number 16. That’s the maximum number of points the current bottom two teams, Rogue and Immortals, can earn. If any other team earns 17 points, they are safe. Also, if both Rogue and Immortals lose their Saturday series, they are locked in as our bottom seeds.

TeamSoloMid & Cloud9

If you are a TSM or Cloud9 fan, you have nothing to worry about! The two teams are “locked” participants for the Summer Season Live Finals. If they survive their Saturday series, they will meet in the semi-finals to determine the 1st seed on Sunday.

If neither team scores a point, the standings will remain the same. TSM will be our first seed and Cloud9 our second seed.

If only one team gains a point, then that team will be our first seed.

If both teams survive the competition on Saturday, you will have to wait until the second series broadcast on Sunday. To the victor go the spoils of the first spot.

TIEBREAKERS

TSM owns the tiebreaker over Cloud9. As no other team can tie either TSM or Cloud9, for future references, all tiebreaker scenarios (including these two teams) are irrelevant.

Hollywood Hammers

If you are a Hammers fan, good news!

GET IN

Magic number is 1. You only need 1 point to lock in a trip to the Summer Season Finals. Don’t get swept by Immortals and you are in.

THEY’RE OUT

If ALL of the following happen:

Hammers is swept by Immortals.

Immortals wins the weekend. This would put Immortals at 16 points with the head to head over Hammers.

Nova defeats Rogue and later scores two more points somewhere between the semi-finals and third place matches. In order for Immortals to win the weekend, they have to beat Nova in the semis. So, in this scenario, Nova would be in the 3rd place match.

Tempo Storm defeats TSM.

GankStars defeats Cloud9.

GankStars defeats Tempo Storm in the semi-finals OR earns a total of 2 more points somewhere between semi-finals and third place matches.

Above is the only scenario that would make Hammers fall out of the top 6. As such, it is very unlikely Hammers will not make the Live Finals. Reiterating, Hollywood Hammers only needs to score 1 point in their Saturday series and they are locked in.

TIEBREAKERS

Hammers “currently” owns the head-to-head over these teams:

Rogue

GankStars

Nova

Tempo Storm

Matched against TSM, Tempo Storm is the team facing the most difficult path.

GET IN

Tempo Storm’s magic number is 3. In order to guarantee a seed in Live Finals, they will need to defeat TSM and win at least one more match.

OR, they need any two combination of the following to occur.

Nova swept by Rogue.

GankStars swept by Cloud9.

Rogue does not reach the finals.

Immortals does not win a match in the finals.

OR, if the following scenario occurs, Tempo Storm is also guaranteed a seed:

Tempo Storm defeats TSM.

Hammers swept by Immortals.

Nova defeats Rouge.

This would put Tempo Storm at 16 points, tying with Hollywood Hammers and Immortals.

THEY’RE OUT

Let’s look at the 3 different scenarios where Tempo doesn’t get the 3 magic points needed.

If Tempo Storm earns 0 points, swept by TSM: The combination of any 3 of the following.

Nova earns 1 or more points.

GankStars earns 1 or more points.

Rogue makes the finals.

Immortals wins at least 1 match in the finals.

If Tempo Storm earns 1 point: The combination of any 3 of the following.

Nova defeats Rogue.

GankStars defeats Cloud9.

Rogue wins 1 or more games in the finals.

Immortals wins the finals.

TIEBREAKERS

Tempo Storm “currently” owns the head-to-head over these teams:

Hollywood Hammers

Immortals

Nova Esports

Nova Esports is probably the team with the easiest path to lock themselves in for the finals since Hammers is the only team they might have to face before finals with a higher standing than them.

GET IN

Magic number is 4. Although if I were a betting man, I’d say if they beat Rogue, they are in because of the unlikelihood that GankStars defeats Cloud9. Nova is the last game on Saturday, so it is possible for them to be locked in before they even play. Let’s look at the scenarios that will put them in before they play.

If both of these happen, Nova will be locked in before they play:

GankStars swept by Cloud9.

Immortals loses to Hammers.

If Nova isn’t swept by Rogue, any 2 of these:

Cloud9 defeats TSM.

Tempo Storm swept by TSM.

Immortals reaches the finals.

Hammers reaches the finals.

Rogue swept in the finals.

You ought be confused how Hammers or Immortals reaching the finals could help Nova. Well if Rogue defeats Nova they will face the winner of Hammers vs Immortals. As long as Rogue doesn’t make the finals, their maximum total points possible would be 13. So, if Nova isn’t swept, Rogue can’t pass them if they don’t reach the finals.

Also, Nova owns the head-to-head against Rogue, even if they lose (season record of 5-3 if Rogue doesn’t sweep; 4-3 if Rogue does sweep).

THEY’RE OUT

If Nova is swept by Rogue, any 2 of the following put them out:

GankStars gains 1 point.

Rogue reaches the finals.

Immortals wins 1 match in semis and wins the 3rd place match.

If Nova isn’t swept by Rogue but loses, the combination of any 2 of these puts them out:

GankStars defeats Cloud9.

Immortals reaches the finals.

Rogue reaches the finals and isn’t swept there.

If Nova beats Rogue, these have to happen for them to be out:

Immortals reaches the finals.

Nova defeated by GankStars in the 3rd place match.

Nova doesn’t reach their magic number of 4 points.

TIEBREAKERS

Nova “currently” owns the head-to-head over these teams:

Rogue

GankStars

Tempo Storm

GankStars

This isn’t saying much since they are in 6th place, but they are most likely to lose their spot. GankStars must show up in this final weekend. GankStars faces Cloud9 (the team that has won every week of split 2) in the first match of the day, so they may be forced to sit, watch, and hope.

GET IN

Magic number is 4. If GankStars beats C9 and wins 2 more games on Sunday they are in. So, let’s look at how they can get in if they don’t beat C9 besides the obvious (Rogue and Immortals both losing).

If GankStars gets swept by Cloud9 both of the following must happen.

Immortals get 3rd place or lower for the weekend.

Rogue gets 3rd place or lower for the weekend.

If GankStars wins 1 game against Cloud9 they need any combination of 2 of the following to happen:

Nova gets swept.

Immortals gets swept in the finals or lower.

Rogue gets swept in the finals or lower.

THEY’RE OUT

GankStars are out of the finals if they lose to Cloud9 and 2 of the following happen.

Nova isn’t swept by Rogue.

Rogue wins at least one match in the finals.

Immortals wins at least one match in the finals.

TIEBREAKERS

GankStars “currently” owns the head-to-head over these teams:

Rogue

Immortals

Tempo Storm

Challenger Teams

Some of you may be a bit confused about how it works with teams who made their way from the challenger teams. I was too, so I went looking for answers. Turns out challenger teams inherit more than just points from the teams they replace—they inherit wins and losses; which means that even though Immortals and GankStars may never face each other this season, GankStars owns the head-to-head because they own the head-to-head over Echo Fox, whom Immortals replaced. The only possibility GankStars and Immortals have to face each this season would be in the finals of the last weekend. At which point in time, tiebreakers would be meaningless between the two since GankStars would have too many points for Immortals to catch up. So, if you are wondering how tiebreakers are handled in those situations for challenger teams, now you know!

Rogue & Immortals

Currently tied for last, but like everyone else, they control their own destiny. Let’s do this a bit backwards this time.

TIEBREAKERS

Rogue “currently” owns the head-to-head over these teams:

Immortals

Tempo Storm

Immortals “currently” owns the head-to-head over these teams:

Nova

Next let’s look at the reality. 5 points separate these teams from 6th place, which means at minimum they must place 3rd or better (for the weekend) without getting swept in the semi-finals. There is a way for them to win 3rd place and only score 4 points.

Disclosure: I tried, but did not receive clarification on this situation. The following is based on my best interpretation of the rulebook and tiebreakers.

For these teams it’s obvious what they need to do to get in, but let’s look at the scenario that would have to take place for both teams to get in…

Oh wait…

It’s not possible for both of these teams to get in. Let me explain. If Immortals defeats Hammers and Rogue defeats Nova, then both teams will face each other in the semi-finals. Which means both teams cannot reach the finals, so the maximum number of points available to one of these teams is 13.

Let’s look at that.

If Rogue sweeps Nova and finishes with 13 points. Nova still owns the season head-to-head (4-3 if they are swept this weekend. Their current head-to-head is 4-1 in favor of Nova). The same holds true for GankStars, the other team with only 13 points. So, Rogue needs more than 13 points—they must reach the finals to have a chance.

Then there is a tricky situation that happens if Rogue makes the finals and Immortals is the team that finished tied with Nova and GankStars at 13. Try to follow me:

Immortals holds the head-to-head over Nova. Nova holds the head-to-head over GankStars. GankStars holds the head-to-head over Immortals.

So, head-to-head cannot settle this tie. Tiebreaker #2 is season match win percent.

In the best case scenario for Immortals, the season win percent will finish as such:

GankStars : 11-15 (42.3%)

: 11-15 (42.3%) Nova : 11-16 (40.7%)

: 11-16 (40.7%) Immortals: 13-20 (39.4%)

So you see, in a three way tie between GankStars, Nova, and Immortals, Immortals is still out. This is the only scenario.

Because of the way the schedule plays out, it is not possible for both Immortals and Rogue to make it to the Live Finals.

We all know who our favorite team is, but now that you know what we covered, who are you really cheering for this weekend to make sure your team gets in? I may not have touched on every scenario that is available, but if you find something I’ve missed, let me know in the comments below!