With the The International 6 right around the corner, four teams – EHOME, Execration, Escape Gaming and compLexity Gaming – will compete in the TI6 Wild Card series, for one last shot at the Main Event. The International 6 Wild Card series are set to get underway tomorrow, August 2nd. The four contenders will play a double-elimination bracket, and the last two Main Event spots will be secured by the top two teams.

UPDATE:

TI6 Main Event LIVE updates – HERE

The International 6 main event will debut on August 8th, preceded by the group stage, scheduled between August 3rd-6th.

Until then, however, all eyes are turned towards the TI6 Wild Card series that will decide the fate of four teams hoping to secure the two remaining main event spots: EHOME, Execration, Escape Gaming, and compLexity Gaming.

With more than $19 million on the line – the largest prize pool in esports history – and over $8 million set aside for the championship team alone, the stakes are higher than ever.

TI6 Wild Card series format

The TI6 Wild Card stage kicks off tomorrow, on August 2nd, in Seattle. Four teams will play a double-elimination bracket. The top two teams will advance into the group stage and secure one of the remaining two spots in the main event.

Four teams will play a double-elimination bracket.

All matches will be best-of-three.

The top two teams will advance to the Group Stage.

The bottom two teams will be eliminated.

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TI6 Wild Card contenders

The TI6 Wild Card stage will be played among the teams that managed to finish third in their respective regional qualifiers.

Only two of the TI6 Wild Card contenders will secure a place in the main event, while the remaining two will be eliminated.

The odds on betting sites favor EHOME over the other three TI6 Wild Card contenders. Execration is placed at the bottom of the list – least expected to win, while Escape Gaming and compLexity Gaming are falling into the bottom ranks, as well, with equal betting odds.

EHOME (Chinese TI6 Wild Card)

EHOME had a smooth journey through the Chinese Regional Qualifiers, winning their first series against ViCi Gaming, 2-0. Soon after, they defeated ViCi Gaming.Reborn, 2-1. With both VG teams momentarily out of the way, EHOME were in the qualifier’s Grand Finals. ViCi Gaming.Reborn emerged victorious from the Lower Bracket Finals and challenged EHOME once again.

The final match-up proved to be a see-saw of emotions, as each team managed to tie up the score time and time again. The Grand Finals series were brought to a deciding fifth game. EHOME had one last push to make towards victory, but VG.R had the upper hand and secured the TI6 main event spot for themselves.

EHOME now seek to redeem themselves in the TI6 Wild Card stage, and join Wings Gaming and ViCi Gaming.Reborn as one of the Chinese representatives in The International 6 main event.

With a highly experienced and revered lineup, EHOME are the TI6 Wild Card favorites. They have shown some lackluster performances lately, but Dota 2 enthusiasts can be convinced that LanM, iceiceice, Fenrir, old chicken, and eLeVeN will put up one heck of a fight for their place in the main event.

EHOME roster:

Daryl “iceiceice” Koh

Wang “old chicken” Zhiyong

Ren “eLeVeN” Yangwei

Lu “Fenrir” Chao

Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng

Escape Gaming (European TI6 Wild Card)

Escape Gaming had a bumpy road going into the Regional Qualifiers, being sent into the Lower Brackets by Alliance, in their first series. They had to fight against those who had also fallen at the hands of Alliance and Ad Finem.

The European squad emerged victorious from the Lower Brackets, after defeating Fantastic Five and Ad Finem, only to be pitted against Alliance once again.

Unfortunately, by the third game of the qualifier’s Grand Finals, Escape Gaming had already played all their aces. Alliance managed to outdraft them and secure the main event spot.

Escape Gaming’s limited drafting strategies could be further exploited by the other three TI6 Wild Card contenders. However, if Escape manage to circumvent this flaw, they could very well be joining the other 15 teams in The International 6 Main Event.

Escape Gaming roster:

Adrian “Era” Kryeziu

Max “qojqva” Bröcker

Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann

Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat

Troels “syndereN” Nielsen

compLexity Gaming (Americas TI6 Wild Card)

compLexity Gaming started off strong in the Americas Regional Qualifiers, by securing a flawless victory against FDL, only to be on the receiving end in their next series versus Digital Chaos. Knocked down into the Lower Brackets, they met FDL once again and secured another 2-0 victory.

compLexity should have learned from history, as they were bound to repeat it, in their second and final match-up versus Digital Chaos. As DC secured the first two games, pressure started mounting for compLexity. They managed to claim the next two games in the region’s finals, forcing a nail-biting fifth game.

The final game of the Grand Finals series swung like a pendulum, as blood was spilled on both sides of the river and each team traded off kills and objectives. Even so, DC’s advantage slowly crept in and, halfway through the game, things started to look grim for compLexity, as each siege was defended more and more desperately and the base was slowly crumbling around them. The final blow was delivered after the 60 minute mark by w33’s Exorcism that managed to take out the Dire Ancient.

compLexity have a great synergy as a team – one of the best in the scene – and have been seen performing exceptionally well, taking opponents by surprise, every so often. Whether they will manage to rise to the occasion at TI6, remains to be seen.

compLexity Gaming roster:

Kyle “swindlemelonzz” Freedman

Zakari “Zfreek” Freedman

Rasmus “Chessie” Blomdin

Linus “Limmp” Blomdin

Simon “Handsken” Haag

Execration (Southeast Asian TI6 Wild Card)

Execration had a rough start going into the SEA Regional Qualifiers, losing their first series against Wings Unity, 2-0, and ending up in the Lower Brackets. Luckily, their road to TI6 did not end there, as they managed to win their match-up against White Fries Gaming. Soon after, Wings Unity were knocked out in the Lower Brackets by Fnatic.

With Fnatic securing the first two matches of the SEA qualifier’s Grand Finals, things were looking grim for Execration, who were struggling to take control of the series. The third match saw Execration pulling themselves together enough to secure a win. However, that was the only game they managed to steal from Fnatic, who ended up closing the Grand Finals series with a score of 3-1.

If Execration manage to pull another hail Mary and emerge victorious from the TI6 Wild Card series, they will be joining Fnatic and TnC Gaming into the main event, in Seattle.

The Southeast Asian team is seen as the least likely to succeed. They did show a commendable performance during the Regional Qualifiers, but they lack competitive experience and are widely regarded as the TI6 Wild Card underdogs.

Execration roster:

Fernando “Nando” Mendoza

Abed “Abed” Yusof

Ralph “RR” Penano

Timothy “Tims” Randrup

Kimule “Kim0” Rodis

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