T1 roll into playoffs at Overwatch Midseason Championship

T1 swept Sign Esports 3-0 on Thursday and earn a playoff berth in the Overwatch Champions Series' Midseason Championship at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Crazy Raccoon, Team Falcons, Al Qadsiah and T1 snagged quarterfinal berths by winning twice on the event's opening day.

The $1 million tournament is part of the Esports World Cup.

The 16 teams were divided into four groups for the double-elimination preliminary round. The initial matches were best-of-three, and all subsequent group-stage matches are best-of-five.

The top two teams in each group will clinch playoff spots.

The single-elimination playoffs will include best-of-five quarterfinals and semifinals ahead of the best-of-seven final on Sunday.

The championship team will earn $400,000 plus 1,000 Esports World Cup club points. The runner-up will receive $180,000 and 750 EWC club points.

On Thursday in Group D, T1 rolled past The Gatos Guapos 2-0, and Sign Esports edged Twisted Minds 2-1. In the group's winners match, T1 defeated Sign Esports 2-1 on Busan, 3-1 on Circuit Royal and 3-1 on New Junk City.

In Group A, Team Falcons topped AG.AL International 2-0 before Weibo Gaming slipped past Virtus.pro 2-1. In the winners match, Team Falcons earned a 3-2 victory. After Falcons took Oasis 2-0, Weibo claimed Esperanca 142.41 meters to 102.29 meters. Falcons went in front again with a 3-1 victory on New Junk City, but again Weibo pulled level, winning 1-0 on Eichenwalde. The decisive fifth map, Shambali Monastery, went to Falcons 4-3.

In Group B, Crazy Raccoon swept VARREL 2-0, Team Liquid beat ROC Esports 2-0, and then Crazy Raccoon slipped past Liquid 3-2. In the latter match, Crazy Raccoon took Lijiang Tower 2-0 and Shambali Monstery 1-0 before Liquid captured Colosseo 122.18 meters to 79.3 meters. After Liquid equalized with a 1-0 victory on Midtown, Crazy Raccoon sealed the series with a 3-1 triumph on Aatlis.

In Group C, Al Qadsiah and Geekay Esports began with 2-0 victories, over Team CC and ZoKorp Esports, respectively. Al Qadsiah then nipped Geekay Esports 3-2. After Al Qadsiah took Lijiang Tower 2-0 and Watchpoint: Gibraltar 2-1, Geekay Esports rallied to capture Midtown 5-4 and New Junk City 3-2. Al Qadsiah wrapped up its win on Colosseo, prevailing 104.62 meters to 92.28 meters.

The Friday schedule --

Group A

--Elimination match: AG.AL International vs. Virtus.pro

--Decider match: Weibo Gaming vs. AG.AL International/Virtus.pro winner

Group B

--Elimination match: VARREL vs. ROC Esports

--Decider match: Team Liquid vs. VARREL/ROC Esports winner

Group C

--Elimination match: Team CC vs. ZoKorp Esports

--Decider match: Geekay Esports vs. Team CC/ZoKorp Esports winner

Group D

--Elimination match: Twisted Minds vs. The Gatos Guapos

--Decider match: Sign Esports vs. Twisted Minds/The Gatos Guapos winner

Overwatch Champions Series' Midseason Championship prize pool, with money winnings and Esports World Cup club points

1. $400,000, 1,000 points

2. $180,000, 750 points

3. $100,000, 500 points

4. $60,000, 300 points

5-8. $35,000, 200 points

9-12. $20,000, no points

13-16. $10,000, no points