M6 World Championship Swiss Stage Day 7: Selangor Red Giants advance to Knockouts
Here are the results of the final day of the Swiss Stage in the M6 World Championship:
The first series of the final day pitted Team Vamos and BloodThirstyKings . Like they were bounded by fate, the MPL Malaysia runner-up met with the country's public enemy number one in MLBB. Team Vamos ' mission was to win and represent their home country in the Knockouts, while their opponents needed to crush the nation's hope to prolong theirs.
As early as the draft, it seemed like Team Vamos already had a game plan as they banned all of BloodThirstyKings ' signature heroes, including Fredrinn and Luo Yi. The NACT Fall champion must rely on other heroes to answer the Malaysian with their heroes banned. However, Team Vamos brought out a surprise, a Cecilion-Carmilla combo. The combination proved too tricky for BloodThirstyKings as they struggled to open the game. The kings fell from their thrones in game one with no Fredrinn and Luo Yi to open the defence.
Surprisingly, Team Vamos banned the same heroes in the second game. The ban forced BTK to find an answer to their struggle and to prove to the world that they are not a Fredrinn-Luo Yi one-trick. Team Vamos relied on the Carmilla-Cecilion combo again that their opponents couldn't answer. Instead of finding a solution, Team Vamos seemed to perfect their play as they choked the Kings into submission. They restrained every attempt at aggression from Michael “MobaZane” Cosgun with his Alpha. Team Vamos only needed two games to guarantee a home team in the Knockout Stage.
The second series followed, a match between Team Liquid ID and MENA's last hope, Twisted Minds . The champion of Indonesia faced the MPL MENA Season 6 winner in a do-or-die situation. A victory for the cavalry would guarantee that two Indonesian representatives would be in the Knockouts, but the Saudi-based team weren’t pushovers either.
The difference in class between the two regional champions seemed apparent, as Team Liquid ID completely understood the meta and the playstyle of Twisted Minds . While the MENA champion relied on Cecilion and Khaleed, the Indonesian champion countered them with Alpha, Chou, and Yve, which provided the control and damage necessary to outlast their opponents’ sustain. The strategy worked perfectly, as Twisted Minds never looked dangerous against Team Liquid ID. The cavalry thus secured game one.
The second game was an even more dominant performance by Team Liquid ID. They relied on Harith and Luo Yi to provide the damage to burst through Twisted Minds ' Joy and Aurora. While the MENA Champion wanted to play the pickoff game using Chou, Christian “Widy” Hartono's Belerick was the answer from Team Liquid ID to stop the hero from using his Way of The Dragon. And so, Twisted Minds were eliminated from the tournament with no more tricks left up their sleeves.
A confrontation between the shark and the giants closed the Swiss Stage’s final day. CFU Gaming from Cambodia faced Malaysia's biggest hope, Selangor Red Giants , in a match that would decide their fate in the M6 World Championship. The winner would go further, while the loser would be eliminated.
While Selangor Red Giants were the favourites before the start of the tournament, CFU Gaming proved they were the ones to watch as they managed to take down NIP Flash and Team Vamos . The first game showed precisely that as the Cambodian champion's Zhask and Jawhead duo proved to be a headache for Yums ' Chip and the rest of the Selangor Red Giants squad. A stalemate that lasted for the majority of the time ended with a crucial team fight in the SRG's jungle. Detective's Suyou was the only one standing after the dust settled, ending the game to take CFU Gaming one step closer to Knockouts.
If the first game was a back-and-forth contest, the second game was a stampede by Selangor Red Giants . The Malaysian champion picked Vale for Mohd Norhadim Bin Mohamad “Stormie” Rizwan as an answer to CFU Gaming 's Hylos. The plan was to render the hero's Glorious Pathway useless with Vale's wind, and it worked marvellously. No kills were given to the MPL Cambodia champion, who were left helpless against the giants' march to their base. SRG made quick work of CFU Gaming to force a game three.
The last game of the Swiss Stage didn't deliver any surprise picks from both teams, as they relied on the meta heroes to fight for their fate in the dying hour. A repeat of the previous game happened in the decider as Selangor Red Giants ' discipline was their greatest strength once more. An almost second flawless match happened, but CFU Gaming suddenly fought back with Wanwan's power spike. However, a cinematic Spear of Destruction from Vincent “Innocent” Banal's Moskov changed everything. With one fell swoop, the Giants ended CFU Gaming 's run in the M6 World Championship to continue their journey on the golden road.
The M6 World Championship will continue with the Knockout Stage after a one-day break. Eight teams will compete in the upper bracket, where the winner will progress further and the lower drop into the lower bracket.
Here are the draws for the first round of the Knockout Stage's Upper Bracket:
Fnatic ONIC PH Vs Selangor Red Giants
Falcon Esports Vs NIP Flash
RRQ Hoshi Vs Team Vamos
Team Spirit Vs Team Liquid ID
As no one will be eliminated, the first round will be a showcase of power for the teams qualified to Knockouts. Who will be glorious in the Knockout Stage?
The M6 World Championship will take place from November 21 to December 15 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is split into three distinct phases: the Wildcard Stage from November 21 to 24, the Swiss Stage from November 28 to December 5, and the Knockout Stage from December 7 to 15.
Sixteen teams have qualified for the Swiss Stage after a gruelling Wildcard Stage. All participants will fight for their lives in the tournament, as only eight slots are open for the Knockout Stage.
