Since the first day of the World Championships, I’ve been itching for the knockout stage to begin. A best-of-five series brings out so much more strategic nuance, as teams and players focus their preparation on one another and look for ways to counter and adapt from game to game.
Eight strong teams have fought their way into the Quarterfinals, but only four will advance by the time the dust settles on Sunday. Here’s what you should expect going into each matchup, with win conditions for each team and my predictions of the results.