2015 Winter Infinity Cup

The 2015 Winter Infinity Cup was the second iteration of the Infinity Cup, taking place from December 25th, 2015, to January 24th, 2016. Thirty (32) boards were scheduled to compete in a 4x8 Group Stage where the top 2 teams from each group would then face off in a single-elimination playoff bracket to see who was to be crowned as the second champion of the Infinity Cup. This cup was the second go-around for streamer and the first time for newcomers and . 
Unlike its predecessor, the second cup was plagued with errors and in general considered a failure. Despite the expansion from 16 to 32 teams, a combination of a lack of advertising, the ill advised decision to begin the cup on Christmas Day, board apathy, streaming issues, and the failed implementation of Infinity Next lead to very little enthusiasm surrounding the cup, culminating in just 50 people attending the final. Nonetheless, the cup eventually concluded, 30 days after it began. The Group Stage of the Winter 2015 cup was held between December 25th and January 17th, the Round of 16 was held on January 23rd, and the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Final of the Winter Cup were held on the 24th. In addition, three exhibition games were played -- one on the 9th, one on the 10th, and the post-cup special match between the cup winner and special team .
The final -- which pitted a dominant against and their electric striker in Stannis -- ultimately ended 2 - 0 /leftypol/, converting them to the incumbent champions from the one-and-done team they had been in the first Infinity Cup. /leftypol/ went on to lose to /operate/ by a relatively solid 3 - 1.
Stannis, representing /tv/, took home the Golden Boot, scoring a reasonable 10 goals in 7 games. Bane came in a close second, with 9 goals. Meanwhile, Alunya (/leftypol/'s resident catgirl) was the cup's top assister with 6 in seven games, and /leftypol/ keeper General Strike came home with an impressive 0.33 keeper coefficient over three games, the best in the cup.
== Rules ==
=== Group Stage ===
The second cup was the first cup requiring a group stage. As is traditional, the 32 teams were lumped into groups of four. The two teams with the most points in each group advanced. A win was worth 3 points, a tie 1 point, and a loss 0 points. Point ties would be broken by goal differential, then away goals. If both teams were still tied, a tiebreaker game would be played. Group stage games would not go to extra time or penalties.
=== Knockouts ===
The knockout rounds followed the previous cup standard of 16 team single elimination. The main distinction between the group stage and the knockouts were that matches during the knockout rounds could go to extra time or penalties. Other, less important rules distinguishing the two can be found here.
== Draw ==
Draw was determined by Random.org, the video of the draw stream can be found here. The top 16 from /icup/ I were ordered in the first 16 spots, with taking 's place, and the newcomers were randomly placed on the list. The first 8 teams have their orders randomized 10 times, and then the next pairs of 8 while each team in the group of 8 is placed in a corresponding letter group going down the list.
The results of the draw were as follows:
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=== Schedule ===
The original schedule for the second Infinity Cup was for the first series of matches -- the "Round of 32" -- to be played on January 1st and January 2nd, beginning at 17:00 UTC. When rescheduled the first day to December 25th, however, the schedule was shifted to these matches being on the 25th, 26th, and 27th, with subsequent rounds being in January. The schedule then shifted once more after the opening day bomb; this time, the Group Stage was to begin on January 8th (then January 9th), with further matches on the 10th and beyond. Eventually, this schedule worked out as Group Stage matches on December 25th, January 9th, January 10th, January 11th, January 16th, and January 17th, and later stages on January 23rd and January 24th.
== Group Stage ==
===Group A===
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===Group B===
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===Group C===
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===Group D===
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===Group E===
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===Group F===
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===Group G===
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===Group H===
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== Unofficial Exhibition Matches ==
2nd day after show game (not official): 
/leftypol/ vs /baphomet/ Result: draw 5-5
4th day after show game (not official):
/furry/ vs /pone/ Result: /furry/ won 5 - 2 THANK YOU OGRO
== Knockouts: (January 9th and 10th) ==
==== Round of 16 (Saturday) ====
/hebe/ v.s. /just/ (1700UTC)
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/furry/ v.s. /leftypol/ (1730UTC)
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/n/ v.s. /v/ (1800UTC)
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/k/ v.s. /bane/ (1830UTC)
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/his/ v.s. /a/ (1900UTC)
/fit/ v.s. /starwars/ (1930UTC)
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/tv/ v.s./kind/ (2000UTC)
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<B>/senran/ v.s. /tech/ (2030UTC)</B>
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====Quarter Finals (Sunday)====
/leftypol/ v.s. /just/ (1800UTC)
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/n/ v.s. /bane/ (1830UTC)
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/a/ v.s. /starwars/ (1845UTC)
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/tv/ v.s. /tech/ (1910UTC)
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==== Semi Finals (Sunday) ====
/leftypol/ v.s. /bane/ (1945UTC)
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/a/ v.s. /tv/ (2010UTC)
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====3rd Place Game (Sunday)====
/a/ v.s. /tv/ (2045UTC)
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====FINAL (SUNDAY)====
/leftypol/ v.s. /tv/ (2045UTC)
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