After an eventful round-of-10 group stage that featured a broken headset, a week’s break for DreamHack Valencia, and a handful of online matches due to COVID-19, six players are ready to move on to the playoff stage of the tournament.
DreamHack Valencia champion 
Dark is looking like the strongest title contender so far, finishing in first place of Group B with a perfect 4-0 record (8-0 map score). Fellow DreamHack top four players herO and Maru are looking strong as well, advancing with 3-1 records from Group A. Creator was the only DreamHack semifinalist who didn’t make the cut, unable to overcome a poor 0-2 start in the first day of games.
The most surprising result may have been Bunny advancing from Group B with a 3-1 record. The Team NV was forced to remain in Spain for nearly 10 days after contracting COVID-19 at DreamHack, due to South Korean regulations that require a negative PCR-test for entry into the country. Despite being unable to practice normally for 10 days, Bunny went 2-0 on the last day of games to secure his playoff spot.
The RO6 roster is rounded out by RagnaroK and DongRaeGu, who return to the playoffs for their second consecutive seasons. While their underdog runs may have surprised us in Season 1, they have established themselves as worthy, playoff-caliber players by putting in excellent performances in the subsequent months. DRG, in particular, seems to be bringing his ZvT back up to its old legendary level, beating Maru in Code S and also beating Clem in the WTL.
The round-of-6 stage of the playoffs—which trims the select six down to a final four—will be played on Sunday, Jul 17 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00).
