With the wild first season of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC)-Southeast Asia upper division nearing its conclusion, TNC Predator and Neon Esports are seeking to each grab one of the three tickets to the Singapore Major.
But how can these two Filipino teams qualify for the first Dota 2 Major tournament of 2021?
Let's take a look at the complicated current standings and the remaining matches first:
As per rules, only the top three finishers in the upper division at the end of the six-week SEA regional league will make it to the Major that will be hosted by ONE Esports and PGL on March 27 to April 4.
The bottom two teams, meanwhile, will be relegated to the lower division wherein the top two squads will be promoted.
The No. 1 team in the upper division gets a coveted spot in the Major playoffs, the No. 2 takes a seat in the group stage and the No. 3 settles for a slot in the wild card phase.
A winner-take-all game (also known as "best of one") is set to be played if a tiebreaker is needed along the dividing lines: Major Playoffs-Group Stage, Group Stage-Wild Card, Wild Card-Remain in Upper Division, Remain-Relegation.
Thanks to its surprising performance, Neon could only fall out of the race to the Major through the tiebreak which will only happen if it loses to T1 and Fnatic also yields to TNC, resulting in a brutal four-way tie.
Neon will get the Major Playoffs ticket if it wins over T1 and current joint leader Fnatic loses to TNC. If both Neon and Fnatic win their final assignments, they will go on a deciding game for the top spot.
If Neon loses to T1 and Fnatic wins, Neon will still qualify for the Major and will only need to battle T1 to determine who between them gets to the group stage and settles for wild card.
On the other hand, TNC will have to run on a rougher road en route to the SG Major.
TNC will get a shot at the No. 1 spot with a victory over rival Fnatic paired with a T1 win against Neon, leading to the crucial four-team tiebreakers.
If both TNC and Neon prevail, TNC will assure itself at least a spot in the wild card and will fight it out with Fnatic for a seat in the group stage.
If TNC loses, it will need T1 to lose as well to keep its Major hopes alive. This scenario will result in a three-way tie with Boom Esports for the wild card ticket.
TNC will not make it to the Major if it loses and T1 wins.
Nothing has been cast in stone yet on who will represent the SEA region in the first Major in 14 months. Let's just wait and see how things will pan out.