Tankers!
We're here in Moscow not getting much sleep. Mostly due to the fact that we're so pumped for big day ahead! For those of you who aren't able to make the flight out to Mother Russia, but would still like to catch all of the action, we're livestreaming the event from our Twitch TV channel.
If you've missed out on our coverage so far then go ahead and catch up at the offical Ural Steel 2012 for the NA server.
The first semi-final match starts at 14:30 local Moscow time (sorry all you NA folks, that makes it 03:30 PDT), but you can always watch it on the livestream after the feed has completed, or drink a lot of coffee.
The teams from the NA server have drawn their lots for the first round of grouping; the results are as follows:
That means that none of the NA teams will be squaring off against one another in the first round of matches.
It's a round robin format, meaning each team will face every other team in the same group. Every match will be determined by the first team to achieve two victories in a series of five matches, regardless of draws. If no team achieves two victories, then the match is a draw.
The maps for the first round are as follows:
For a match win a team is awarded 3 points, for a draw 1 point, for a loss 0 points.
The two teams with the most points in each group will advance to the Playoffs.
In the event of a tie score, there are a string of tie breakers before any sort of sudden death.
The playoffs are a single elimination round.
Based on the results of the Group Stage, the Playoffs will progress as follows:
1/4 finals:
The winners of the 1/4 finals advance to the 1/2 finals.
1/2 finals:
The winners of the 1/2 finals advance to the finals.
The playoffs and finals are held on the following maps:
May the best team win!
Be sure to show your support for the NA teams on the forum link below!