It’s not every day that you see Esports tournaments of this scale, with the competition not being between player vs player, or team vs team, but rather nation vs nation. The NationWars 5 StarCraft 2 tournament has been slowly progressing this month, and we’re now at the stage where just four of the original sixteen countries that participated are still remaining. With the semi-final matches being played in less than a week, let’s take a look at who remains, and how they got here.
Team Mexico
Team Mexico had one of the toughest groups, being placed alongside Korea, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. After taking down Taiwan 4-1, their next opponent was Korea, and a shock upset that saw Mexico claim victory 4-2 sent them straight to the playoffs. Their next hurdle was facing off with Brazil, though another quick 4-0 there cemented their place in the semi-finals and a guaranteed top 4 finish for the event.
Team Netherlands
The Netherlands also had some tough competition to get to the semi-finals, facing down Team USA for their first series. Despite the struggles, they were able to win this match 4-3, advancing to face Sweden where they easily won 4-0 to secure a playoffs spot. Once there, they faced down Norway and claimed another 4-1 victory to set up their semi-final showdown with Team Mexico.
Team Korea
The obvious favourites for this tournament, Team Korea’s path was a little surprising. After defeating the United Kingdom 4-0, they lost out to Team Mexico 2-4, sending them to the loser’s bracket. After defeating Taiwan there, they had to face off with Team Italy, securing the win 4-0 in that match to send them to the semi-finals.
Team Finland
The team that has had to play the most matches of our semi-finalists so far, Team Finland fought a tough series against Brazil, winning the set 4-3 before advancing to face Poland. While the series was a little shorter, it was still a 4-2 victory to send them to the playoffs where they went head-to-head with Team Germany. After another gruelling 4-3 victory, they secured their spot in the semi-finals against Team Korea and a guaranteed top 4 finish.
While the finals will take place offline, you can catch all the action from the previous series on the NationWars 5 Twitch channel, here. For more tournament results, check out the winners from the Dota 2 SLI 5 event, here.
