In the third and final day of The International 2016 group stage, teams fought their last few series to determine the outcome of each group. Those in the winner's bracket get a cushion heading into the double-elimination main stage, while the loser's bracket teams will have to play a best-of-one for their survival in the tournament.
Group A's top placements stayed relatively stable, with OG clinching the top spot in the group on a 4-0 record for the day. Evil Geniuses followed behind, placing second despite only winning a single game on Day 3; both OG and EG won the luxury of choosing their first-round opponent in the upper bracket. Alliance surged into Day 3 with a 2-0 win over EG. The Swedish squad secured third place over Wings Gaming, who also finished 8-6, by winning the tiebreaker match.
TNC Gaming, despite having an overall impressive showing during the group stage, fell one set shy of the winner's bracket after a 0-2 loss to OG. Natus Vincere managed to climb up from the bottom of the group but still finished in the loser's half at sixth. LGD Gaming, who started Group A with a 4-2 record, ended at seventh place. Escape Gaming rounded out the bottom, going 2-12 in groups.
Friday's Group B ties began to unravel Saturday. EHOME secured first place with a 12-2 record, barely edging out Digital Chaos in a climactic final match. DC sits at second with an 11-3 overall, while Newbee ended the group stage in third place with an 8-6 record. MVP Phoenix rounded out the winner's bracket at 6-8, due to both a 2-2 finish for the day and the result of the final match of the day.
That conclusive series, held between Team Secret and Team Liquid, ended up being the determining factor in the group. If Liquid had won a single game, it would have forced tiebreakers against MVP for a winner's bracket spot; however, Secret played impressively, taking the series 2-0 and keeping Liquid in the loser's bracket. Fnatic, Secret and Liquid ended the group stage at fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, all with a 5-9 record. Vici Gaming Reborn stands at the bottom of Group B with a 4-10 record after losing all four matches of the day.
The main event bracket has now been finalized. In the winner's bracket, OG has opted to face MVP Phoenix while EHOME chose Alliance. Digital Chaos will face Wings Gaming and Evil Geniuses will face Newbee. Meanwhile, in the lower bracket, TNC Gaming chose Vici Gaming Reborn while Fnatic picked Escape Gaming. Finally, Team Secret will be up against LGD Gaming and Natus Vincere will play Team Liquid.