The first day of the ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major Playoffs was a bloodbath. Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Invictus Gaming, and PSG.LGD swept the opposition aside, recording thumping victories which have moved them onto the next round of the winner’s brackets. Fnatic, Vici, Invictus and Thunder Predator still have a shot at the title, but will have to slug it out with the rest of the teams in the loser’s bracket.
Here is a short recap of all four games played today.
Evil Geniuses (2) vs Fnatic (0)
Evil Geniuses showed that they are one of the Major’s favourites by sweeping away Fnatic in two straight games. The on-fire Abed, playing Storm Spirit and then Void Spirit, put up a dominating display of agility as he crushed the lane and showed off his tricky moves in big team fights.
But it was the EG’s hyper carry Arthur “Arteezy” Babaev that stole the show. In one moment of brilliance, his Juggernaut turned around a losing fight with a massive Omni-slash that completely destroyed Fnatic. And it seems EG was only cruising on first gear.
After the series ended, EG’s offlaner Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang was asked if he was pumped up to be at the Majors and getting through the first Fnatic challenge.
“No, it’s not The International. So I’m just chilling,” he said. Some call it confidence, others call this arrogance. But man, that boy is cold.
Invictus Gaming (2) vs Vici Gaming (1)
The two Chinese teams clashed in a top billing fight but it was Invictus which came out tops. Vici managed to snag a game but it was not nearly enough, with Invictus’ teamwork and strategic play proving to be the difference between both teams.
But they may not find the next opponent as easy to outsmart – they take on EG in the next round.
Thunder Predator (0) vs Team Secret (2)
No surprises here. The top in-form DOTA 2 team in the world Team Secret put in a scintillating display to stamp their authority as favourites of the tournament.
Thunder Predator had dominated the group stages of the tournament and had expected to put up a fight. In the end, there was no fight.
Team Secret’s experienced veterans and coordinated teamwork was more than enough to set aside the team from South America.
Virtus.pro (0) vs PSG.LGD (2)
PSG.LGD scored a massive upset by beating the seeded team Virtus.pro in the first round of the upper bracket Playoffs. Maybe it was the fact that PSG.LGD had already played multiple games stretching back over the weekend when it started out as a wildcard. But PSG.LGD was on a roll, virtually steamrolling Virtus as they took the series 2-0.
After losing the first game, Virtus tried to turn the series by making surprising off-meta picks such as Kunkka and Doom but the gamble failed to pay off. PSG.LGD went for the tried and proven picks such as Puck, Troll Warlord and Undying to smash and grab the series.
They play top seed Team Secret next. Will another upset be on the cards?
