Arena of Valor (AoV) - Valor Series Enters Playoffs, Thailand/Indonesia/China AIC Reps Decided (Esports Roundup November 2, 2018)

The majority of the teams to participate in the Arena of Valor International Championship (AIC) have been decided, leaving just the Valor Series playoffs and two other qualifiers to determine the full set of teams.

Overview

Eleven of the sixteen representatives at the Arena of Valor International Championship (AIC) have now been decided, leaving just Europe, North America, Latin America, India, and Korea to determine their teams. The former three countries are in the midst of the Valor Series, where the regular season has wrapped up and the playoffs are set to be held in São Paulo, Brazil.

Valor Series

The four playoff-bound teams from each region were already determined heading into the final week of the regular season, though some of the seedings stood to be shaken up.

Europe

Bubble Team climbed to the top of the European standings benefiting from Nova Esports’ somewhat surprising 2-0 loss to x6tence. Bubble Team won their own match against Alliance, helping to cement their own place at the top of the pack and Alliance’s at the bottom.

Valor Series Season 2 Final Standings: Europe
Place Team Record
1 Bubble Team 15-5
2 Nova Esports 14-6
3 Dead Rabbits 9-11
4 Team Queso 9-11
5 x6tence 9-11
6 Alliance 4-16

Latin America

Nova Esports managed to force a tie with Pain Gaming, though Pain Gaming was able to take the tiebreaker, 2-1, and the 2nd seed along with it.

Valor Series Season 2 Final Standings: Latin America
Place Team Record
1 GeO eSports 17-3
2 Pain Gaming 16-7
3 Nova Esports 15-8
4 Assassins Crew 8-12
5 INTZ eSports 6-14
6 Synergy e-Sports 1-19

North America

Nothing was on the line in the final week for North America, as Tribe 2-0’d vVv and Allegiance dropped a third game to finish out the season.

Valor Series Season 2 Final Standings: North America
Place Team Record
1 Allegiance 17-3
2 Tribe Gaming 16-4
3 Toxic 11-9
4 Drawn to Fame 7-13
5 PrideStark Empire 6-14
6 VeniVidiVici 3-17

The Valor Series playoffs will be played in São Paulo, Brazil from November 9-10. You can catch the action on on the official Arena of Valor Facebook page.

AHQ Sweep First Rounds of GCS Playoffs

Despite coming into the playoffs in fourth, AHQ managed 3-1 victories over both 2017 AIC champion Still Moving Under Gunfire in round 1 and Flash Wolves in round 2. They are set to face J Team in the finals on November 3rd, with ~$67,000,000 USD on the line.

The state of the playoffs prior to AHQ’s 3-1 victory over Flash Wolves

AHQ, which consists of the AWC champion Korean roster, cannot qualify for the AIC through the GCS, meaning J Team automatically qualifies. Though the official rules state that the 2nd place team in the GCS will be the second team from Taiwan in the AIC, the procedure is now unclear. It’s possible that there is a separate qualifier tournament to determine the representative.

The Garena Challenger Series (GCS) is Taiwan’s ~$114,000 league. It can be watched in Mandarin on Garena Taiwan’s YouTube channel, or you can catch the unofficial English broadcast on DTwo’s Twitch channel.

IT.City Bacon Fails to Qualify for AIC

Throughout the second season of Thailand’s RoV Pro League (RPL), three teams consistently showed that they were head and shoulders above the competition: Bazaar Gaming, ALPHA Red, and AWC Finalists IT.City Bacon. And because Thailand was awarded three spots in the AIC, it seemed like more or less a foregone conclusion that ALPHA Red and IT.City Bacon would storm through the secondary qualifiers after Bazaar Gaming took the first spot by winning the RPL.

Unfortunately for fan favorites IT.City Bacon though, it just wasn’t to be. ALPHA Red held up their end of the bargain, defeating Toyota Diamond Cobra in the finals after working their way up from the lower bracket. TDC being in the finals in the first place (and thus automatically qualifying for the AIC), however, was a huge surprise, since they just wrapped up a lackluster RPL season, finishing in 7th out of 8 teams. As for IT.City Bacon, they lost to TDC in the second round of the winner bracket before falling to unheralded Soul of Soy, 2-0, in the lower bracket.

The bracket prior to ALPHA Red defeating TDC in the grand finals, 3-2

Swing Phantom Climb Through Arena of Glory Winter Playoffs

The first day of the Arena of Glory playoffs finished with Swing Phantom fighting for the top. Not only was the team able to defeat Honor Adonis 3-1 in the quarter finals, they defeated OverClockerS 3-1 in the semi finals. Swing Phantom will now play against Team Flash in the finals on November 10th.

Vietnam’s three AIC representatives are determined by the top 3 in the AOG, meaning Team Flash, Swing Phantom, and OverClockerS are already qualified. However, winning the championship would vault the winner straight to the group stage.

The Arena of Glory (AOG) is Vietnam’s ~$77,000 league. You can watch the AOG on Garena Vietnam’s YouTube channel.

Saudara e-Sports Qualifies for AIC From Indonesia; ASL Regular Season Concludes

Strangely enough, Indonesia’s AIC qualifier was held separately from their ~$175,000 AoV Star League (ASL). Saudara e-Sports took the spot convincingly, defeating GGWP.ID in the winners’ finals before beating them again in the grand finals, 3-0.

Meanwhile, the ASL concluded its regular season, though it’s unclear when the playoffs will begin. Information may come in the coming days on the official website

The ASL gives teams three points for every series win:

AoV Star League Standings
Place Team Record (games) Points
1st GGWP.ID 6-0 (12-1) 18p
2nd Saudara e-Sports 4-2 (9-4) 12p
3rd EVOS.AOV 4-2 (8-4) 12p
4th Rex Regum Qeon 3-3 (7-7) 9p
5th Dunia Games 2-4 (5-9) 6p
6th Bigetron eSports 2-4 (5-10) 6p
7th Headhunters 0-6 (1-12) 0p

You can watch both the ASL and VODs of the Indonesia AIC qualifier on Garena Indonesia’s YouTube channel.

AIC Qualified Teams

The following teams have qualified for the Arena of Valor International Championship (AIC) 2018:

Group Stage:

  • Bazaar Gaming (RPL Season 2 Champion – Thailand)
  • J Team (GCS Summer – Taiwan)
  • [Korea Representative]
  • [Vietnam Representative – Team Flash or Swing Phantom]

Knockout Stage Teams:

  • Team Tamago (Valor Cup Season 3 – Singapore)
  • ALPHA Red (Qualifier – Thailand)
  • Toyota Diamond Cobra (Qualifier – Thailand)
  • OverClockerS (AOG 3rd place – Vietnam)
  • Saudara e-Sports (Qualifier – Indonesia)
  • Oh My God (Qualifier – China)
  • [Vietnam Representative – Team Flash or Swing Phantom]
  • [Taiwan Representative – believed to be Flash Wolves?]
  • [Europe Representative]
  • [North America Representative]
  • [Latin America Representative]
  • [India Representative]

Road to AIC Coverage

Post-AWC Coverage

Arena of Valor (AoV) Recommended Article List

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