Noxville on the format of Europe’s closed qualifiers for TI 15: “It could have been done better—maybe a triple-elimination format!”
Team Liquid Technical Director Ben “Noxville” Stenhuysen took to X to comment on the closed qualifier format for The International 2026 in Europe.
I’ve never been a fan of double-elimination tournaments when the outcome matters to more than just the top two teams, or single-elimination tournaments when more than just the top spot is at stake. Sometimes this is unavoidable due to time constraints, but I think the European qualifiers for The International 2026 could have been done better—perhaps with a triple-elimination format!
Statistics from the closed qualifiers for The International 2026 were previously released—a total of 181 games were played in the regional qualifiers, and the win rates for the Forces of Light and the Forces of Darkness were 49% and 51%, respectively.
Photo: Ben “Noxville” Stenheisen.
