R6 NAL: Spacestation Heading to Major Qualifier

Following a great display throughout the first phase, the winners of the Six Invitational were unable to impress. In the Winners’ Group, they lost both of their matches and will now have to enter the Major Qualifier. This means that TSM, DarkZero, and Oxygen are already slotted in for the November Major. 

TSM 2-0 SSG

Ever since August, Spacestation Gaming have massively struggled to perform in pressure situations. Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski and his colleagues faced elimination against TSM, as the losing side would have to take a detour through the Major Qualifier.

Team SoloMid quickly secured the first 4 rounds on Consulate. On the defense, they succeeded in keeping SSG off the sites. Spacestation only won one attack on Tellers/Archives and were almost down and out on a 1-6 deficit. They did manage to win their first two defensive rounds, but quickly faltered and handed away a 3-7 victory. On Kafe, they at least managed to acquire 3 rounds at halftime, but they soon stood with their backs against the wall, as the TSM offense was just unstoppable.

Once more, Jason “Bealu” Doty and his men got a 7-3 victory and sent SSG down to the last place of the Winners’ Group. For a chance, Beaulo wasn’t the top rated player for his team, instead it was Bryan “Merc” Wrzek who turned in the big kills for the roster. Alec “Fultz” Fultz tried his best for SSG, but Nathanial “Rampy” Duvall was virtually absent in this Best-of-Three.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SSG?

The three remaining teams of the group are already signed on for the upcoming Major at this point. Spacestation, however, will have to get in via the Major Qualifier. There, they’ll meet the winning side of the Canadian Division and the two best teams from the Losers’ Group. Tempo Storm have just been eliminated in last place, but eUnited, Soniqs and Disrupt are still in contention for the Major.

In principle, SSG should be capable of topping such a group. If we take a look at the August Qualifier, we notice that, back then, DarkZero also had to take the route through the Major Qualifier! They sat in last place of the Winners’ Group in Stage 1 as well. They then fought all the way through to the Grand Finals as the underdogs, managing to win in grand style.

So nothing is over just yet for SSG and they still have a shot at creating a great redemption story line. But at the moment, it just doesn’t look like they can muster up the strength required to compete with TSM, Oxygen, and DarkZero.

WHO WILL MAKE FIRST PLACE OF STAGE 2?

DarkZero and Oxygen are both just one step away from making first place, getting the best seed for the Major and, obviously, taking home quite a lot of prize money. Taking a loom at the teams’ performances, DarkZero have historically had the upper hand. They put up a solid display in Stage 2, but they lost to SSG earlier on. Just recently, Oxygen were able to dismantle Spacestation. So this match-up might actually be much closer than the stats would lead us to believe.