Asia Minor viewer's guide

The Asia Minor leading up to the second Major of 2018 is about to start, so we have prepared a viewer's guide with all the information you need to know to watch the $50,000 tournament.

The third Minor of the FACEIT Major circuit will kick off on Monday with eight teams squaring off for two spots at the next $1 million Valve-sponsored event plus their share of a $50,000 prize fund.

Visa issues forced Signature to miss the event and will see several other teams field stand-ins in London, including the Thai team's own replacement, BOOT-d[S], who will be travelling to the UK with Leslie "⁠Bobosaur⁠" Soen instead of Alikhan "⁠w1nt3r⁠" Kopzhanov.

Renegades are the favourites heading into the event

VG.Flash, one of the favourites heading into the event, will not be able to field their full line-up either after YuanZhang "⁠Attacker⁠" Sheng sustained a foot injury playing basketball, with coach Zhenghui "⁠z8z⁠" Liu replacing him in the starting line-up.

The eight competing teams have been drawn into two double-elimination groups, featuring best-of-three matches in the lower bracket. The top two teams from both groups will advance to the double-elimination, best-of-three playoffs.

Below you can find the group draw in full:

Group A
Renegades
VG.Flash
SCARZ Absolute
BOOT-d[S] Group B
TYLOO
Tainted Minds
Uniquestars
5POWER

The complete schedule for this five-day competition looks as follows:

Monday, July 16
09:00 - VG.Flash vs. SCARZ Absolute | BO1
10:15 - Renegades vs. BOOT-d[S] | BO1
11:30 - Group A winners' match | BO1
12:45 - Group A elimination match | BO3
16:00 - Group A decider | BO3

Tuesday, July 17
09:00 - TYLOO vs. 5POWER | BO1
10:15 - Tainted Minds vs. Uniquestars | BO1
11:30 - Group B winners' match | BO1
12:45 - Group B elimination match | BO3
16:00 - Group B decider | BO3

Wednesday, July 18
09:00 - Upper bracket semi-final #1 | BO3
12:15 - Upper bracket semi-final #2 | BO3

Thursday, July 19
09:00 - Upper bracket final | BO3
12:15 - Lower bracket final | BO3

Friday, July 20
09:00 - Consolidation final | BO3
12:15 - Grand final | BO3

Taking viewers through the action on the English stream will be a seven-man team including the winners of the ECS Community Caster Challenge, Adam "Dinko" Hawthorne and Alexander "Hawka" Hawkins, Tres "⁠stunna⁠" Saranthus as host and Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill as analyst.

The complete on-air team for the event looks as follows:

Tres "stunna" Saranthus - Host

Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill - Analyst
Sudhen "Bleh" Wahengbam - Analyst

James Bardolph - Commentator
Daniel "ddk" Kapadia - Commentator
Adam "Dinko" Hawthorne - Commentator
Alexander "Hawka" Hawkins - Commentator

The prize distribution for the Minor is the following:

1. - $30,000 + spot in New Challengers Stage
2. - $15,000 + spot in New Challengers Stage
3. - $5,000

BOOT-d[S] #50 Nevin 'splashske' AwBenedict 'Benkai' TanAnthony 'ImpressioN' LimKumaresan 'Tommy' RamaniLeslie 'Bobosaur' Soen YuanZhang 'Attacker' Sheng Age: 21 Team: VG.Flash Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 615 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.66 VG.Flash #53 YuLun 'Summer' CaiWeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongKunHua 'LOVEYY' BaiWingHei 'Freeman' CheungZhenghui 'z8z' Liu Signature #121 Warittorn 'RoLEX' KalanukarnPhaiboon 'j9' SaengsermsubPhakhin 'PPOverdose' JaroenthanajindaManutsawat 'Reality' SangphadungNarakrit 'HSK' Phuthiwaranan 5POWER ZhiHai 'QKA' FuPeng 'xiaosaGe' SongBenjamin 'moxie' KouAndrew 'kaze' KhongDaryl 'insanity' Chua Renegades #13 Justin 'jks' SavageAaron 'AZR' WardJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadKarlo 'USTILO' PivacNoah 'Nifty' Francis Zhenghui 'z8z' Liu Age: 29 Team: VG.FlashC Chad 'SPUNJ' Burchill Age: 28 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.87 Maps played: 151 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.73 Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Tres 'stunna' Saranthus Age: 28 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.64 Maps played: 4 KPR: 0.30 DPR: 0.54 Alikhan 'w1nt3r' Kopzhanov Age: 20 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 86 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.65 SCARZ Absolute #126 Koji 'Laz' UshidaTomoaki 'crow' MaruokaRyo 'barce' TakebayashiShibasaki 'poem' YumekiTakemori 'takej' Shogo Tainted Minds #68 Yaman 'yam' ErgenekonRyan 'zewsy' PalmerChris 'ofnu' HanleyCallum 'BURNRUOk' HendersonJoshua 'INS' Potter BOOT-d[S] #50 Nevin 'splashske' AwBenedict 'Benkai' TanAnthony 'ImpressioN' LimKumaresan 'Tommy' RamaniAlikhan 'w1nt3r' Kopzhanov VG.Flash #53 YuLun 'Summer' CaiYuanZhang 'Attacker' ShengWeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongKunHua 'LOVEYY' BaiWingHei 'Freeman' Cheung Leslie 'Bobosaur' Soen Age: 22 Team: BOOT-d[S] Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 28 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.71 Uniquestars #93 Lidor 'LaNrefNi' AlmasiGuy 'NertZ' IluzBarak 'shp3x' SchneiderGuy 'anarkez' TrachtmanDaniel 'ponkt' Punkt TYLOO #16 Ke 'captainMo' LiuHui 'DD' WuHansel 'BnTeT' FerdinandHaoWen 'somebody' XuKevin 'xccurate' Susanto