OGN and the VIPL announced their randomly selected team groupings today, which resulted in a heavily stacked Group of Death.
Through this lottery-system group assignment, Group B of this season’s VIPL looks like this:
- Hunters
- G2.Kinguin (G2 eSports)
- SK Gaming
- Ardent Alliance
Welcome to the Group of Death. Yes, this one group features both VGL European Qualifier champions (G2 eSports & SK Gaming), the VGL NA Preseason Qualifier champion (Ardent Alliance) and the #2 team in the world based on past VIPL performance (Hunters, representing China).
With only one team guaranteed to make it on to the semifinals from each group, the task of advancing for any of these teams just became immensely more difficult. In a system where each game can translate into lasting effects on the future of a team, expect to see some extremely serious and high-stakes games from Group B.
GROUP A
- GankStars
- PHOBIA
- WILD
- DMG
The reigning champions of VIPL stand out very quickly in this group and we expect to see great things from the defending champion GankStars. PHOBIA are in a special situation because last season they were matched in the same group as GankStars as well.
GankStars and Hunters have competed in elimination matches with one each other, twice. With DMG picking up Hunters’ starting lane carry from last season, Godfather gets another opportunity to knock GankStars out of competition.
WILD are no strangers to the VIPL, falling just short of qualifying for last season’s wildcard matches.
GROUP C
- Invincible Armada
- INFAMOUS
- WEV
- UniversalCivils
Invincible Armada won the very first OGN event and has been proudly representing Korea since. While Group C must be considered Invincible Armada’s to lose, they cannot afford to look past the very strong, very dangerous representative from Southeast Asia region: INFAMOUS. With INV’s high profile, it’s probable that the other teams have done their research and are prepared to try to take them down. The rest of their group may not have the same global experience, but each team qualified in their respective regions and will be worthy opposition.
Each time that VIPL plays these matches live, they break it down into one game from each group. That means that each stream will include two of these teams combating. Last season there were two three-way ties heading into the finals games of each group.
The tournament starts on Thursday, Dec 3 at 2 AM PST. Tune in to OGN Global’s Twitch channel to watch live!