The Asia League 2024 Stage 2 will conclude later today with the match between Bleed Esports and Elevate as the winner of the series will qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal.
Following back-to-back BLAST R6 Major qualifications, a Six Invitational 2024 top-twelve finish, and a quarterfinal appearance at the Esports World Cup, Bleed Esports are the favorites to win today's clash.
In what feels like a David versus Goliath match, Bleed Esports will play against Elevate, who could reap the fruits of the investment made at the beginning of the season to bring the core of the former European Tier 2 roster, G Who. It's up to them to upset the current champions in a result that will shake the Global Standings.
Here's everything you need to know about today's Asia League 2024 Stage 2 grand final:
H2H Record
Bleed Esports dominates the H2H record with Elevate as the red roster has only lost once after seven matches played. Additionally, earlier this season, Bleed Esports got a 7-0 win against Elevate on Clubhouse.
Historically, Bleed Esports have only lost two maps against Elevate, one of them coming in the penultimate playday of the Asia League 2024 Stage 1 group stage, amid the race to take the region's first seed ahead of the playoffs.
Stats and results
Bleed Esports have been dominating the region for a long while now. Since the start of Year 8, the team has won 27 out of 28 BO1s and 7 out of 9 BO3 series played in the Asia League.
The Asia League 2024 Stage 2 hasn't been an exception. Bleed Esports took the group stage's first seed after an unbeaten run which saw the squad finishing with a round difference of +39. Meanwhile, Elevate, who only lost against Bleed Esports, finished the group stage only three points behind their opponents but with a round difference of +14.
Bleed Esports' stats including the team's performance in the Esports World Cup and the Asia League 2024 Stage 2.
To qualify for the region's grand finals, Bleed Esports defeated their archenemies FURY after wins on Clubhouse and Lair. On the other side of the bracket, Elevate played against NoCapR6 as they defeated the Thai squad by a 2-1 map score.
Individually, Bleed Esports have dominated the player standings, with Wu "Reeps96" Weichen, Aldi "Hovenherst" Firmansyah, and Jake "Leadr" Fortunato leading with SiegeGG ratings of 1.37, 1.35, and 1.29. Meanwhile, Mohamed "SpeakEasy" Yunos has been Elevate's best player of the stage with a SiegeGG rating of 1.20.
How could this match affect the Global Standings?
With 300 SI Points, Bleed Esports currently sits in ninth place on the Global Standings. Securing a Top 16 finish would see the Asian roster clinching a spot to compete at the Six Invitational 2025.
Although this won't happen today, at least not mathematically, a Bleed Esports win would see the Asian roster getting an extra five points from the Asia League and 55 points from the BLAST R6 Major Montreal. Therefore, clinching a spot to compete in Canada would make the team skyrocket to fourth place, with 360 SI Points.
However, with the Asia League only owning one BLAST R6 Major slot, an Elevate win would mean Bleed Esports would end the season with 300 SI Points. Ultimately, the team would have to wait until the end of the BLAST R6 Major Montreal to know if they would pass the cut.
On the other hand, an Elevate win would get them an extra five points from the Asia League and 55 points from the BLAST R6 Major Montreal — enough to see Elevate temporarily sneaking into the Global Standings' Top 16 with 245 SI Points. Nevertheless, with teams from other regions having yet to secure more SI Points from their respective regions, Elevate would need a good performance in Montreal to qualify for the Six Invitational 2025.