The group stage of the NA/SA region of ESL ONE Birmingham Online has gone past its halfway mark. With only two more game nights to go, we can expect a more competitive spirit from all of the participating teams as they finish the single round-robin.

The format for the group stage is a single round-robin with matches being a best-of-three series. The top two teams advance to the upper bracket while the third and fourth teams advance to the lower bracket, the remaining bottom two teams will be eliminated from the tournament. With this format, the remaining two game nights are extremely crucial and will bring out the intensity of the competition with how the schedule of remaining games are looking.

Here are the current team standings for your quick reference:

TeamsWinLoss
CR4ZY30
Quincy Crew30
business associates22
beastcoast12
Evil Geniuses13
Thunder Predator03

At first glance, it would seem that the spots for the teams to advance to the upper bracket is already on lock for CR4ZY and Quincy Crew with their undefeated record, and Thunder Predator who are yet to win a match could already start packing and call it quits. However, with the way the schedule is set, these remaining two game nights will be the most exciting as slots for the upper bracket advantage are on the line as well as a team’s hope of staying in the tournament.

Let’s have a look at the remaining match-ups for this group stage.

CR4ZY (3-0) (2.53) vs Quincy Crew (3-0) (1.39)

This could be considered as the clash of the titans for this stage as both teams who are yet to taste defeat battle it out to stand alone at the top of team standings. I am looking at the favorites, Quincy Crew, to take this match-up as team CR4ZY are yet to win a series with a sweep for the entire group stage with one winning condition. Quincy Crew needs to keep Bryle checked at all times as his performance in the middle lane as team CR4ZY will ride his momentum once he gets his early kills become uncontrollable. If Quincy Crew would be able to shut Bryle down, then I believe the farming ability of Yawar as a carry would be too much for team CR4ZY to handle.

beastcoast (1-2) (1.8) vs Thunder Predator (0-3) (1.79)

Thunder Predator looks to enter this match-up as favorites even though they are still looking for their first win. I am looking at Thunder Predator to win their first game with this match as beastcoast continues to struggle as a team. MNZ showed signs of his capability to win games for his team as a carry with their game 2 win against Team CR4ZY where his Weaver got a rampage and ended up with a 19/1/6 KDA and 37K networth. TP must bring their A game in this match as their journey in this tournament will be at stake.

Evil Geniuses (1-3) (1.42) vs Thunder Predator (0-3) (2.43)

Evil Geniuses would be the team to go here as their experience would make the difference in crucial games like these. I am looking at the veterans to find their stride and build their momentum from here as they prove their worth as a directly invited team.

business associates (2-2) vs CR4ZY (3-0)

I expect team CR4ZY to stay undefeated in this match-up, Bryle is just way too good of a midlaner to let his team down in a crucial game. The support duo of business associates in Brax and Sneyking could make the difference especially if they get to pick heroes that bring big impacts such as Earthshaker and Enigma.

Quincy Crew (3-0) (1.19) vs beastcoast (1-2) (3.6)

With team beastcoast struggling in this tournament, I don’t see Quincy Crew dropping this match as they look to secure the top spot for the upper bracket advantage. Quinn in the midlane and Yawar will carry their team to this win.

Excited for a particular match-up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!