This week marked the start of the second half of the 2024 Esports World Cup and the tournaments were as action packed as ever.
Alliance captured their first victory of the tournament in the Apex Legends Finals. BDS conquered the competition to grab the Rainbow Six Siege Crown. Finally, in Honor of Kings, the KPL Dream Team dominated their way through the competition on their way to victory.
Apex Legends
Alliance started the tournament a bit behind the 8 ball with an initial seeding outside the top 10. However, this did not stop them from dominating from the start. In each of the first two Group Stage matches, Alliance clocked over 20 points which put them firmly in the lead. They'd take advantage of this cushion and finish first in their group and second overall. They would only finish behind the initial one-seed Team Falcons. With such a dominant performance, Alliance was pushed straight into the Finals, bypassing the Last Chance Stage. In the Finals, Alliance started off slow, not having a double digit match until the fourth game. However, the Finals ended up becoming a marathon, not a sprint. In the 12th game of the stage, Alliance had their best game of the tournament to capture the victory, becoming APEX Legends World Cup champions.
Rainbow Six Siege
In the Group Stage, Team BDS handled their business. After multiple quality wins, they were admitted straight into the Playoff Stage. In the Quarterfinals against Faze Clan, BDS struggled, dropping a game before recovering and winning the series 2 to 1. In the next round, BDS bounced back, sweeping Furia and advancing to the Finals. BDS’s opponents in the Finals, W7M Esports, had yet to lose a game in the Playoff Stage. This Final match was supposed to pose a great challenge for both teams. However, this thrilling series did not come to fruition as BDS would win the first game and never look back. BDS swept W7M in a swift 3 to 0 victory and claimed the Rainbow Six Siege crown.
Honor of Kings
In the Group Stage, the KPL Dream Team won all five of their games. Along with LGD Gaming, they were the only team to go flawless during the tournament's first stage. This performance propelled KPL to the Knockoff Stage where they would face Impunity Esports. This match-up did not challenge KPL however, as they advanced to the next round in an easy 2 to 0 route. In the Semi’s, KPL showed similar dominance, vanquishing AG Global in a 3 to 0 sweep. The KPL Dream Team carried this momentum into the Finals where they'd face LGD Gaming, who'd yet to lose match themselves this tournament. However, even LGD Gaming were outmatch, and in yet another sweep KPL claimed victory for the series and the tournament.
After week 5, Team Falcons has maintained their over 2000 point lead and are comfortably first place in the tournament. Liquid Alienware has extended their second place lead to just over 600 with a total score of 1845. Third and fourth place also remain the same with Gaimin Gladiators and Natus Vincere separated by a little over 100 points. With Alliance, BDS, and KPL’s tournament wins this week, we now have an 8 way tie for fifth place. For more information on these tournaments and for the schedule of the events go to the Esports World Cup’s Website. Come back next week to Sporting Tribune for a recap of all the 2024 Esports World Cup action.