Favorites, to battle! - 11 - The Battle of Favorites! - 11

To avoid leaving questions open indefinitely that directly affect the continuation of the tournament after the group stage, the following points are clarified:
1) The number of groups will remain at 16. If new participants are registered, they will be placed on a waiting list and wait for a chance to replace someone who has not played a single game and withdraws from the tournament.
2) The 16 group winners will advance to the winners' bracket after the group stage.
3) The losers' bracket will have a Transition Stage of 1-2 rounds, according to the principles originally outlined in the Tournament Regulations:
All teams that finished in 2nd or 3rd place in a group with only one loss or two draws and won all other games will be exempt from the first round of the Transition Stage.
This round will include:
- All other teams that finished in 2nd or 3rd place.
- All teams that finished in 4th place.
- Those teams that finished in 5th place and managed to win against any team that placed higher than them in their group.
The second round of the Transition Stage will include as many participants as needed, depending on the situation, to reach 32 participants for the 1/16 losers' bracket. At this time, all other games in the losers' bracket can also be played in parallel.
4) No changes to the Tournament Regulations are required in connection with these decisions. All principles were announced before the start of the tournament and remain unchanged. Once the group stage is over and the exact picture of the 2nd-5th places becomes clear, the corresponding draw will be made. The 16 group winners will immediately be able to play in the 1/8 playoffs. In the losers' bracket, the 1st round of the Transition Stage will be held in parallel, followed by the 2nd round of the Transition Stage and the first round of the playoffs, during which the timelines of the upper and lower brackets will gradually align.