Team Story Chapter 1 banner

China's $100,000 major, Team Story Chapter 1, has been a proving ground for the new generation of homegrown teams, with many of the old guard who we saw compete way back in October at the APAC Premier now falling by the wayside. Skadi's Gift, VICI Gaming, Invictus Gaming Fire and Snake eSports all failed to make it out of the groups.

The most prominent dark horse was perhaps Oh My God who knocked out iG.Fire - the team that largely made up Team China at the World Cup - in the groups and then went on to eliminate former best team in China, NGA.Titan, in a 3-0 blow out in the lower bracket.

Alas, OMG were on borrowed time, living in the shadow of Team Celestial having qualified behind them in Group D only to be eliminated by them 3-1 in the lower bracket. Celestial alongside Newbee, WE.White and Star Horn Royal Club have stood out as the leaders of the new school, with all four teams having topped their respective groups and made it to final four in playoffs.

Royal have emerged from the pack as the alpha dogs, dropping only one map over the five best-of-five series that comprised their run to the Grand Final that included wins over OMG, Newbee and WE.White. Royal dominated the Upper Bracket final less than 24 hours ago, taking down WE.White at breakneck speed in a 3-0 that included shutouts on Lijiang Tower and King's Row.

Down in the Lower Bracket Final, Team Celestial are salivating for the salty runback after being knocked down 3-1 by WE.White last Friday. Since then Celestial have been on a tear, ending the playoff dreams of Oh My God 3-1 and Newbee 3-1. Newbee were the only team to have taken a map off Royal all tournament. So now, energised by the quickening, Team Celestial could be on course to commit regicide.

Saturday 14th January - Finals Day

Check out the bracket and more over on Liquipedia. Be sure to catch the dramatic conclusion roughly 4 hours from now on the official stream at zhanqi.tv/topic/ots and see who walks away with that first place novelty cheque for ~$43,000.