The NA Division 1 Tour 2 Tiebreakers are here, and there is one team that has surprised everyone – B8. For a long time, B8 struggled to place higher than the bottom two seeds, but this season has seen a commendable tour for the team, as they competed alongside other NA Division 1 staples such as Shopify Rebellion, TeamSoloMid, and nous.
The tour has ended with B8 in a three-way tie for 4th place with teams felt and DogChamp. Today, a three-way tiebreaker will decide their final placement and DPC point allotment. Will they be able to make it to the top?
ON THE UP AND UP
B8 has ended Tour 2 on a 3W-4L record, tied with felt and DogChamp. Interestingly, the three wins during this tour were exactly against these two opponents and the departing Wildcard Gaming. Going into today’s tiebreaker, they are favored, and likely earning themselves 80 DPC points. This is not yet enough to get them to TI2022, but it is enough to get them in the running, especially if they run an insane Tour 3 and an even “insane-ER” Bali Major.
B8 THE “NEW” NA TEAM IN TOWN
It’s nice to see B8 being successful, yet many have raised the question of why and how B8 got a NA slot. B8 bought the NA DPC 2023 slot off Wildcard Gaming last season, which makes them technically a team in the NA Division 1 bracket. However, B8 managed to stay out of the radar until the second Tour of DPC 2023 despite playing and placing 6th during the previous Tour.
Many former NA players, such as Quinn “Quinn” Callahan, have called out Valve and B8. Quinn had a similar instance back in 2018, whereby his team was disqualified from Valve for violating their regional team ruling as paiN X traveled to and out of South America for the qualifiers without permanent residency. This came off as an attempt to gain a competitive advantage over other regions.
B8’s case isn’t identical to Quinn’s after all. Valve has provided clearer rules on regional teams, whereby 3/5 players on the team need to be located in the region they compete for the entire duration of the Tour. B8 is based in Mexico City for the entirety of Tour 1 DPC 2023.
