The International 8 North America Qualifiers: Schedule, teams and format

Hey! No worries about missing your favorite pub stars and legacy squads in action, North Americans and NA fans elsewhere — we’ve put together the whole schedule for NA qualifiers below. And if you’re planning on stopping in to watch any others (we won’t tell), we’re sharing the schedule for every regional qualifier for The International 8 here on The Flying Courier.

The International 8 is upon us, and it’s time for the first step in the road to Vancouver. With eight teams already qualified, ten more need to prove themselves as worthy of the Aegis of Champions this August. Thousands of teams have played through their respective regional Open Qualifiers, and few have earned spots in their region’s Main Qualifier. Now, the best that have kept their rosters take on a mix of go-getting hopefuls and regional stars that may have mixed their roster (or are playing for fun).

North American has been watched with keen eyes across the world — but they failed to live up to the hype. However, with such consistent performances throughout the year, Valve has chosen to give these teams not just a second chance, but a third one as well. It’s going to be a battle of classic versus new brands, with CompLexity, Evil Geniuses and Leviathan going head-to-head against esports industry giant sponsors Immortals, OpTic Gaming and Jeremy Lin’s own VGJ.Storm. With veterans across this qualifier’s roster, it’s going to be a bloodbath.

Which teams will fight their way to the top? If you want to keep up, we’ve got everything you need right here.

TEAMS

• CompLexity Gaming (Open Qualifiers)
• Evil Geniuses (Open Qualifiers)
• Immortals (Direct Invite)
• Jsut A Squad (Open Qualifiers)
• OpTic Gaming (Direct Invite)
• Team Baidu (Open Qualifiers)
• Team Leviathan (Open Qualifiers)
• VGJ.Storm (Open Qualifiers)

FORMAT

QUALIFYING SPOTS: Three

EVENT FORMAT: This event will have one all-team group stage, followed by a double-elimination bracket.

1. In the group stage, all teams play each other in a best-of-one round-robin.
2. Top team qualifies for The International. The next top four teams teams advance; the bottom four are eliminated.
3. Remaining teams will face off in a double-elimination bracket. All rounds are best-of-three.
4. The Upper and Lower Bracket winners will qualify for TI8.

COVERAGE: BeyondTheSummit is providing the most extensive coverage of TI8 Qualifiers, especially this one, given this is the NA qualifier. However, there may be other streamers on sites such as Twitch that are casting, due to Valve’s extremely permissive rules on casting official events.

SCHEDULE

Note: Times are approximate and are subject to change as games run longer or shorter. Local time (Pacific/Seattle) and Eastern Time (NYC) are listed.

Need to convert to your local time? Click here for a handy time zone converter.

GROUP STAGES

Friday, June 22 — Group Stages Day 1

• 11:00 AM PDT (2:00 PM ET)
  Series 1 — Jsut vs Baidu
• 11:30 AM PDT (2:30 PM ET)
  Series 1 — OpTic vs VGJ.S
• 12:00 PM PDT (3:00 PM ET)
  Series 2 — Leviathan vs Jsut
• 12:30 PM PDT (3:30 PM ET)
  Series 2 — OpTic vs CoL
• 1:00 PM PDT (4:00 PM ET)
  Series 3 — Jsut vs VGJ.S
• 1:30 PM PDT (4:30 PM ET)
  Series 3 — OpTic vs Leviathan
• 2:00 PM PDT (5:00 PM ET)
  Series 4 — IMT vs VGJ.S
• 2:30 PM PDT (5:30 PM ET)
  Series 4 — OpTic vs Baidu
• 3:00 PM PDT (6:00 PM ET)
  Series 5 — CoL vs Leviathan
• 3:30 PM PDT (6:30 PM ET)
  Series 5 — OpTic vs EG
• 4:00 PM PDT (7:00 PM ET)
  Series 6 — CoL vs IMT
• 4:30 PM PDT (7:30 PM ET)
  Series 6 — VGJ.S v Leviathan
• 5:00 PM PDT (8:00 PM ET)
  Series 7 — CoL vs Baidu
• 5:30 PM PDT (8:30 PM ET)
  Series 7 — EG vs Jsut
• 6:00 PM PDT(9:00 PM ET)
  Series 8 — Baidu vs Leviathan
• 6:30 PM PDT (9:30 PM ET)
  Series 8 — EG vs VGJ.S
• 7:00 PM PDT (10:00 PM ET)
  Series 9 — IMT vs Jsut
• 7:30 PM PDT (10:30 PM ET)
  Series 9 — CoL vs EG
• 8:00 PM PDT (11:00 PM ET)
  Series 10 — Leviathan vs IMT
• 8:30 PM PDT (11:30 PM ET)
  Series 10 — EG vs Baidu

Saturday, June 23 — Group Stages Day 2

• 10:00 AM PDT (1:00 PM ET)
  Series 11 — CoL vs VGJ.S
• 11:00 PM PDT (2:00 PM ET)
  Series 11 — IMT vs EG
• 12:00 PM PDT (3:00 PM ET)
  Series 12 — OpTic vs Jsut
• 1:00 PM PDT (4:00 PM ET)
  Series 12 — IMT vs Vaidu
• 2:00 PM PDT (5:00 PM ET)
  Series 13 — EG vs Leviathan
• 3:00 PM PDT (6:00 PM ET)
  Series 13 —Baidu vs VGJ.S
• 4:00 PM PDT (7:00 PM ET)
  Series 14 — OpTic vs IMT
• 5:00 PM PDT (8:00 PM ET)
  Series 14 — CoL vs Jsut

PLAYOFFS

Sunday, June 24 — Playoffs Day 1

• 12:00 PM PDT (3:00 PM ET) — Semi-finals Match 1
  Group Stage Seed 2 vs 5
• 3:00 PM PDT (6:00 PM ET) — Semi-finals Match 2
  Group Stage Seed 3 vs 4
• 6:00 PM PDT (9:00 AM ET) — Upper Bracket Finals
  [Winner qualifiers for TI8]

Monday, June 25 — Playoffs Day 2

• 12:00 PM PDT (3:00 PM ET) — Lower Bracket Semis
  Semi-final losers meet here
• 3:00 PM PDT (6:00 PM ET) — Lower Bracket Finals
  Lower Bracket Semis Winner vs Upper Bracket Final Loser
  [Winner qualifies for TI8]