Today was the final day of the group stages at the StarLadder ImbaTV Kiev Minor. We saw four of our eight teams eliminated, with Winstrike Team and CompLexity our first two teams eliminated, followed by Mineski and a surprise departure from EHOME.

Mineski vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

Our first series of the day saw Mineski face off against Ninjas in Pyjamas for a position in the playoffs.

Game one saw Ninjas in Pyjamas deliver a brutal defeat to the boys from SEA. Crushing them in 28-minutes with a 12-kill lead.

Mineski came back for game two. They had a slight lead during the laning phase, but NiP did not want to see this series go to three games. They wouldn’t have to. Ace’s Medusa pick gave them plenty of staying power and the Puck pick on FATA- is an excellent hard counter for Outworld Devourer.

The net worth bounced back and forth over the game’s 57-minutes. Mineski did an admirable job of holding out on the high ground, before finally crumbling under NiP’s aggressive assault.

After watching their performance in these opening matches, it’s obvious why NiP are a favourite to win the Minor. While they have had some ups and downs this season, they seem as if they’ve found their feet at this tournament.

CompLexity Gaming vs. Team Sirius

CompLexity and Sirius were our next two teams to go head to head on the main stage.

Game one started out even, but the advantage began to lean towards Sirius as the game neared the 20-minute mark. ASD was on fire as Broodmother in this game, leading in both the kills and the net worth. At 30-minutes Sirius took their first victory of the series.

Sirius pulled into the lead immediately in game two, and it quickly became apparent we were about to watch CompLexity get stomped. The combination of Sylar’s Ember Spirit and ASD on Arc Warden was just too much mobility and push power for CoL to fight back against. After 37-minutes, CompLexity finally folded, and Sirius took the series 2-0.

Unfortunately, both of CoL’s drafts lacked the necessary damage and power to really take the team fights. They said goodbye to the playoffs, and goodbye to a direct TI invite. They’ll now have to slug through the NA qualifiers for a chance to play in Shanghai.

Team Sirius vs. Mineski

Next up, Sirius met Mineski in the decider’s match for Group B.

Sirius came into the first game off the back of their win against CoL with plenty of confidence, and it showed. This game was an absolute stomp, with Sirius dominating Mineski right from the get-go. Sirius took the win in just 24-minutes, scoring themselves 26 kills. Mineski was only able to secure seven.

This was an especially rough game for kpii. His Necrophos was shut down during the laning phase, and he never found the space to recover.

Mineski did not fare much better in game two. Sirius was on the warpath, taking a kill per minute in the first six minutes of the game. At 17-minutes, Sirius got a total team wipe on Mineski, and all three of their cores were leading the net worth.

There was just nothing that Mineski could do to stop the push, and at 25-minutes, Sirius took the throne to advance to the playoffs, and Mineski became our third team to be eliminated.

EHOME vs. Anvorgesa

Our final series of the day was a rematch between EHOME and Anvorgesa. The two teams opened the group phase of the tournament, so it seemed fitting for them to close them out too.

This was the only series of the day to go to the full Bo3.

EHOME looked strong in game one. The teams both had a decent laning phase, and things were looking even as the mid-game approached. Once 30-minutes had passed, and things were heading toward the late game, EHOME started to bring the aggression. Anvorgesa held out right until the end of the 53-minutes. But game one was EHOME’s victory.

But Anvorgesa really brought everything to the table in game two. They kept things very even in the laning phase, allowing Wraith King all the time he needed to get fat. Stinger played a massive role in providing plenty of control and ranged harass for his team on Tiny. This game was the first time we’ve seen Tiny’s new tree volley in a competitive event.

At 32-minutes, EHOME called GG. Game two was Anvorgesa’s

Stinger also picked Tiny for game three. Once again allowing Anvorgesa to play a creative game, utilizing toss backs to reposition fights.

EHOME did their best to match the aggressive playstyle of the South American team. But Anvorgesa barrelled through game three like a rocket. Ending it in 28-minutes and knocking EHOME out of the Minor in the first real major upset of the tournament.

You can catch all the action from the playoffs tomorrow live on the official StarLadder Twitch.

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