Starladder XI America: eHug dominate, Not Today crash out

The American group stage has come to a close and eHug, Sneaky Nyx Assassins, Leviathan and ROOT Gaming enter the regional final. Summit 2 attendees Not Today were only able to pick up a single point and finished bottom of the group stage.

At the top of the group stage, eHug have proven that they are able to cause an upset with an unbeaten run in the qualifiers to place them in prime position in the regional finals for the chance to join MVP Phoenix, Invictus Gaming and CDEC Gaming at the LAN finals in Kiev next year. The Americans only entered the qualifiers to replace the former Natus Vincere.US team and were able to hand Sneaky Nyx Assassins their only loss of the group stage as the two teams dominated their opposition. Formerly known as Infinity Stack and led by former Dignitas member Frankie 'inphinity_' Pravong, the team were only picked up last month by the eHug organization after their break from the competitive scene. The two teams will face Leviathan and ROOT Gaming in the playoffs after the teams qualified by winning their tiebreakers.

Team G W L P eHug 7 7 0 7 SNA 7 6 1 6 Leviathan 7 3 4 3 ROOT.DotA2 7 3 4 3 coL.DotA2 7 3 4 3 Wh.US 7 3 4 3 paiN 7 2 5 2 NT. 7 1 6 1 Matches and results

Not Today's surprise qualification for The Summit 2 seems like a distant past following their poor performance in the American qualifier for Star Ladder XI. The Peruvian team were beaten by six out of seven teams through the round robin group stage, with the team only able to pick up a lone victory against Brazilian side paiN Gaming. The team has failed to pick up a win since leaving the Beyond the Summit house in Los Angeles.

Leviathan were originally not content with the decision to play the tiebreaker and carry player 'Shredder' went to Reddit asking for assistance believing that the decision to play while ahead on head to head stats was 'unfair'.

"We think it's pretty clear in the rules that head-to-head should determine who goes on if possible (which it is), and we feel that it's unfair that the rules are being changed at the last second, especially since we plan our schedules way in advance and are being asked to play for several hours with less than a day notice."

Shredder went on to explain that their newly announced tiebreaker against CompLexity Gaming was scheduled at the same time as their CEVO Season 6 match and that they would be forced to play with standins. Vitali 'v1lat' Volochai, however, joined the discussion to remind Leviathan that they lost against CompLexity Gaming so they could not be placed lower than Leviathan so the tiebreaker was forced, and while delayed for a day the teams and admins agreed on a new tiebreaker format with Leviathan and ROOT Gaming competing for a spot in the playoffs while CompLexity Gaming and Wheel Wreck While Whistling requiring a win for the chance to face the loser of the first game.

Leviathan were able to win against ROOT Gaming to claim the first playoff position, but were forced into a third game in a hard earned victory for the American team. CompLexity Gaming were able to defeat Wheel Wreck While Whistling in two straight games to set up the final game of the tiebreaker against ROOT Gaming. The games were hard fought but ROOT Gaming were able to come out on top and secure their place in the regional finals.

The regional finals begin later today with eHug taking on ROOT Gaming and Sneaky Nyx Assassins attempting to force Leviathan into the lower bracket. The remaining games will take place over the next few days and all eyes will be on eHug. We will have to wait and see if they will be able to take their group stage form to secure an unlikely place in the LAN finals in Kiev.

Headline image from inphinity123's Twitter account.