The upgraded Japan National 2020 that boasts 500 million yen (US$46,000) prize pool is now underway. In this seasonal tournament, all Japanese teams -- from Pro League giants to newly grouped amatures -- have an equal opportunity to grab the crown of the Champion of Japan.
Day 2 Qualifier Roundup
In the Day 2 qualifier, where over 200 teams took part, 16 teams as below made it to the seasonal Finals:
- Crest Gaming
- ShinoBeeGaming
- Team ERAs
- TEAM Ano-hi-no
- FAV gaming
- Catastrophy
- My Tyoumiryou
- LAIDBACK WHALE
- Spec Gaming
- SchwarzerLand.A
- Team Alchemy
- Fiveness Esports - B
- ODDEYE KOBE
- Ah. Hai. Donmai-desu.
- FAITH
- WASD☆fermata(^^♪
Teams that finished as the runners-up twice also made it to the seasonal Finals. These teams are as below:
- Mippei Missyu Missetsu Gaming
- ELEMENT.36
In the Day 2 qualifier, FAV gaming, one of the future APAC North teams, finally decided to take part. While supporters had wondered why their favorites had been absent from the Day 1 qualifier, the reason became apparent in the form of the player No2.
Playing as "Akio.seki" in this tournament, the former Takumi Festival LBX player had also secured the highest rating in Season 11 of the Pro League in Japan. Although FAV has not officially announced this change yet, rumor has it that it will be signing No2 as a sixth player is a reflection of FAV's new vision to make their line-up more robust for the new APAC league.
Despite FAV technically having given up one of three tickets to the seasonal finals, nobody was worried about their performance at all. FAV climbed up the tournament, sweeping away every challenger with their overwhelming strength and made it to the group finals.
There, FAV faced against Noname, a little-known team, but clearly capable enough to make it to this juncture.
Although expectations were focused on how No2 fitted on his new team, the definite MVP of the Day was Afro, one of the veteran fraggers in the Japanese competitive scene. In a merciless 13-1 K-D onslaught against Noname, he led FAV gaming to a one-sided 7-1 score on Clubhouse. Following that, in the second map of Kafe, FAV kept proving themselves as one of the top Japanese teams despite a close 7-5 score to progress to the seasonal finals.
Meanwhile, NORA-Rengo's 3rd team, including a few relatively younger players, was eliminated in the middle of the tournament, as well as Takumi Festival LBX, a team from Season 11 of the Pro League.
Day 3 Qualifier
The Day 3 Qualifier will begin at 15:00 JST (06:00 UTC) on May 9.
Competitors
With most of Pro League teams and other profesional teams have already got through the qualifiers, the Day 3 qualifier will be a great opportunity to find intriguing challengers that have any undiscovered talent. However, as NORA-Rengo (the Pro League team), one of the Day 1 runners-up, is also struggling to step to the seasonal finals, some teams will have to face difficulties they have never seen before.
Up to 256 teams can enter each tournament, with any more than that denied a sign-up. The participants can be checked in here, but note that teams that have already won in the Day 1 or Day 2 qualifier cannot enter in the Day 3 one.
Streaming
The Japan Nationals 2020 will be aired on the following three websites, as well as its official Twitter, cast in Japanese.
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