Stuchiu Predictions for TI8 Groups

Chiu on This’ is a short and regular opinion blast

The International 8 Group Stages have been announced. This year the format is round-robin bo2 with the 18 teams split into 2 different groups. The team that places last is eliminated. So before I give you predictions, I’m going to give you my tier list for what I expect at this TI. It is split into S class, A class, B class, and so on.

The S Class are teams I think are favorites to win the tournament. They are:

• Virtus.Pro
• Liquid
• LGD

The A Class are teams that I think have a shot at winning against the S class teams. This year, the only team I think that qualifies for this is Secret, though VG is arguable.

The B class are the teams that have some kind of flaw and likely won’t win TI, but they could go deep with a good run. A majority of the teams are in this category

• Fnatic
• Mineski
• TNC
• EG
• OpTic
• VG
• Newbee
• VGJ.Storm

Then there are the unknown teams that we know little about as they have either recently shuffled or have little to no results throughout the year. As I don’t know much, I can only go on roster strength and speculation, but these are the teams I don’t think have much of a chance beyond upsetting someone else and ruining their day.

• OG
• Pain
• Winstrike
• Serenity
• iG
• VGJ.T

OG were forced to shuffle at the last minute so I can’t believe in them. Pain, Winstrike, Serenity all have potential, but it’s all unquantified potential so I can’t in good faith put them up a class. iG didn’t impress me at all and by the end of the season, neither did VGJ.T.

So using this model, here is how I think the groups will pan out.

Group A

Top 4

• Liquid
• LGD
• EG
• Fnatic

5-8

• Mineski
• OG
• Winstrike
• VGJ.Thunder

Shanghai’d (Referring both to the Shanghai Major and the Shanghai Dragons)

• iG

Group B

Top 4

• Virtus.Pro
• Secret
• VG
• OpTic

5-8

• VGJ.Storm
• Newbee
• TNC
• Pain

Shanghai’d

• Serenity

As for why I picked what I did. I seriously don’t rate iG at all. As for Serenity, I bet on the fact that none of them have experience at the international stage. Everything else follows the lines of the tiers I created.