The Winter Invitational which marked the conclusion of the Winter Split in Europe was arguably the most thrilling non-major event in Circuit Era history. Three games 7s were played, which is the same amount that appeared in the first four Regionals of the Winter Split between Europe and North America combined. On their path to the championship, Team Liquid participated in each one and won it, giving them their second Invitational victory of the year. It was the third time in total that these two teams had faced off in the season’s grand finale, with Karmine Corp winning the Winter Cup in both of their encounters with the squad. The two groups, along with Oxygen Esports, Team Vitality and G1 will travel to San Diego as contenders.

Down to the wire

Title Sunday of the Winter Invitational was the deciding day in the battle to qualify for San Diego, but even that wasn’t enough. In the first round of the Playoffs, high-stakes matches got underway when Team Vitality defeated German Amigos and Quadrant took down Moist Esports by reverse sweep. German Amigos was left praying for a tiebreaker as a consequence, and Moist Esports was disqualified from the Major.

The chances were set against G1, who needed to defeat Team Vitality to at least earn a place in the tiebreaker with 21 points, as they were 0-2 against them this season and had a 1-6 game record. G1 lost the first game, but then they won four straight games to win the series 4-1 and increase their point total to 25. All of these accomplishments would have been for nothing had team BDS not lose 4-1 to Karmine Corp in the semifinals, failing to advance to the top four for the sixth time this season.

By defeating Team Liquid in the quarterfinals, G1 would have escaped the tiebreaker, but after taking a 3-2 lead in Games 6 and 7, they gave up four goals in each of the next two games to lose 4-3. They had little time to rest and prepare for their match against German Amigos because of the new regulation that tiebreakers must be played right away following grand championships. A Winter Major spot would be on the line for the winner of the game against Quadrant. Luckily for G1, they were successful in doing so, defeating German Amigos 4-2.

The game between G1 and Quadrant was tightly fought the entire time, after Quadrant had taken a 2-1 lead, G1 called a break and came back to level it 2-2. Before #Atomik scored in the extra time of Game 6 to earn G1 the final European Major spot, Ivan #Dorito Ruiz Jimenez scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 5. Lucas #RelatingWave Rose of Quadrant can no longer claim to have attended every Circuit Era LAN, ending his amazing run.