TNC Predator continued to show excellent form and moved one step closer to taking the top spot in the ongoing Dota 2 MDL Chengdu Major. The team entered the Major as one of the favorites and has secured a spot in the Upper Bracket Finals. Joining the team at this spot is Vici Gaming. With this, the two teams are guaranteed at least a third-place finish.
Upper Bracket
The Upper Bracket had two semi-finals matches for the day. The first included tournament favorite TNC going against J.Storm. Prior to this round, TNC had only suffered one loss against Alliance in the first round of the playoffs. J.Storm, meanwhile, finished the Group Stage second, and then beat Team Liquid in the first round of the Upper Bracket.
In the first game, TNC took the lead, but J.Storm did not give it to them easily. After a series of back-and-forths, TNC was able to close the game after more than an hour. In the second game, TNC went for the Naga pick for Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte, expecting another possible long game. J.Storm had the advantage through the initial stages of the game. However, the turn-around came at around the 16 to 17-minute mark with an excellent play from Timothy "Tims" Randrup, resulting in TNC getting four kills against J.Storm. While TNC led the rest of the way, J.Storm did not take it sitting down as it took 46 minutes in order for TNC to eventually get the victory.
In the second match VG faced off against Evil Geniuses. In the first game, Zhang "Paparazi" Chengjun had a strong performance on Leshrac, supported by Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang on Gyrocopter. VG took the win and shut down EG. The second game again showed another excellent performance by Paparazi. However, a team fight where VG had the upper hand turned disastrous, leading EG to get four kills. EG took this chance to go for a GG push and secured the win. When the third game started, Paparazi again showed why he is one of the top players of the game and carried his team to the win and a spot in the Upper Bracket Finals.
Lower Bracket
The Lower Bracket saw yet another two teams being eliminated from the tournament. The first match had Fnatic going against Invictus Gaming. The first game was a blowout, with Fnatic dominating the game and getting the win right around the 20-minute mark. In the second game, iG showed Fnatic why it deserved to be in this Major with a good showing from Zhou "Emo" Yi on Ember Spirit. Emo carried his team to the victory with 14 kills and only two deaths. In the third game, Emo again had double-digit kills and, with a strong showing from teammate Thiay Jun "JT-" Wen, iG claimed victory and eliminated Fnatic from the tournament.
In the final match of the day, Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao and the Fighting Pandas fought against his former team beastcoast. During the post-TI shuffle, beastcoast signed the entire roster of Team Anvorgesa. In the first game, it appeared that the Fighting Pandas would be unable to find an answer to beascoast's picks as the latter took charge and earned the victory. In the second game, the Fighting Pandas tried to fight back with, surprisingly, Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu racking up a lot of kills. However, double-digit kills from both Jean Pierre "Chris Luck" Gonzales and Adrian Cespedes "Wisper" Dobles of beastcoast sealed the deal and eliminated the Fighting Pandas from the tournament.
Upcoming Matches
The tournament is now taking a break and matches will resume on November 22. The first match features Team Liquid versus Alliance, and the second one is beastcoast against iG. The final match of the day is going to be EG against whoever wins the match between Team Liquid and Alliance. Overall, a total of three Dota 2 teams are going to be eliminated by the end of November 22.
Who do you think is moving forward in the Lower Bracket? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
