The group stage of The International 2022 is finally done. From the 20 Dota 2 teams, 16 are moving to the playoffs. The good news is that teams will take a quick break with the competition resuming October 20.
Evil Geniuses was the first team to qualify for the playoffs and joining them in the Upper Bracket are these teams:
- Team Liquid
- PSG.LGD
- OG
- Tundra Esports
- Team Secret
- Thunder Awaken
- Team Aster
Meanwhile, the teams starting at the Lower Bracket are:
- Hokori
- Royal Never Give Up
- Gaimin Gladiators
- BOOM Esports
- Fnatic
- Team Spirit
- Beastcoast
- Entity
The teams eliminated were:
- Soniqs
- BetBoom Team
- Talon Esports
- TSM
Group Stage Highlights
There were interesting things that happened during the group stage, and today, we’re going to look at some of them.
The first is that RNG was expected to be in the Upper Bracket. The team tied with Liquid for their first match. After that, they then won their next four matches. However, Lu "Somnus" Yao later tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be hospitalized. It was followed by more players testing positive. This resulted in RNG losing their next four matches.
Meanwhile, Hokori surprised a lot of fans with their performance in this year's TI. However, it wasn't enough to give them an Upper Bracket start for the playoffs.
For the entire group stage, one of the best storylines would have to be BOOM Esports. They were doing badly and on the verge of being eliminated. However, they managed to win in their last match against EG 2-0. This moved them to tiebreaker matches against Soniqs and BetBoom. Fortunately for the team, they won against both and are now in the playoffs. Their first game in the Lower Bracket is with Team Spirit, so it's sure to be an exciting match.
Initial Matchups
Here are the initial matchups for the playoffs:
- Lower Bracket
- Hokori vs. Beastcoast
- Team Spirit vs. BOOM Esports
- Fnatic vs. Gaimin Gladiators
- Royal Never Give Up vs. Entity
- Upper Bracket
- Evil Geniuses vs. Thunder Awaken
- Team Secret vs. PSG.LGD
- Tundra Esports vs. OG
- Team Liquid vs. Team Aster
What about you? What was your favorite moment of the group stage? Dota 2 is available on PC.
