Another day of competition was done at the Singapore Major and it’s becoming clearer that this is indeed a Dota 2 tourney. Day three of the Playoffs had round two of matches for both Upper and Lower Brackets. If we were to describe most of the results in one word, it would be, upsets.
Because of these upsets, it made the Playoffs that much more interesting. As a sort of spoiler, let’s just say that the Upper Bracket Final will be Evil Geniuses versus PSG.LGD. Also, we’re happy that Thunder Predator has moved to the next round as they made Virtus.pro look like noobs.
Dominating!
EG may have had two new additions to the team but it just meant that everyone got TI experience. Still, it was expected to be a difficult match considering they were facing Invictus Gaming, one of China’s top Dota 2 teams. Without a doubt, many people were predicting an iG win yet EG begged to differ.
Indeed, it was all EG for the two games that ended just after 30 minutes with solid performances from both Artour "Arteezy" Babaev and Abed Azel L. Yusop.
The Bigger They Are
Heading into the tournament, there was no question that Team Secret was the sure winner for most. After beating Thunder Predator, it seemed to be the sentiment heading into their match against LGD. It’s good to remember that Secret started in the Playoffs while LGD had to go through the Wild Card.
Secret took first blood but LGD decided to play smart and managed to get ahead in terms of kills. They took down two towers. This allowed LGD to have better control of the map and enabled Wang "Ame" Chunyu on Monkey King to farm well. Once Ame got Battle Fury and Aghanim’s Scepter, LGD was confident enough to look for fights and even go for Roshan. Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg on Pangolier tried to go for an Aegis steal though that wasn’t really going to happen.
At around the 21-minute mark, Secret initiated a fight only to have three of them die and LGD getting the advantage. What came next after Secret’s messy performance was LGD grabbing the first win of the series.
Probably hurt from that loss, Secret returned with a vengeance in Game 2. With Michał "Nisha" Jankowski on Puck and Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen on Alchemist, there wasn’t anything LGD could do. The game ended in Secret’s favor with LGD only getting a total of four team kills.
In Game 3, Secret went again with Nisha on Puck and with MATUMBAMAN on Phantom Assassin. LGD, on the other hand, had Ame once more on Monkey King while Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida on Lycan.
Secret had a good start after taking out LGD supports. However, it only meant that Ame could farm better and get his items fast. Coupled with a strong performance from Faith_bian, LGD beat Secret, won the game, and claimed the series.
Solidifying SEA Star Status
OB Esports x Neon started in the Group Stage but had issues with its roster. They just made the cut to the Playoffs and were placed at the Lower Bracket. They managed to turn heads when they eliminated Fnatic from the tournament. This time, they faced Vici Gaming.
Neon was probably preparing for a long game and drafted a Medusa for Game 1. However, with VG’s Juggernaut able to farm freely, it was simply a matter of time before VG grabbed the win, which they did.
In Game 2, Neon decided to go for a more aggressive playstyle and picked heroes that had good mobility. These were Spirit Breaker, Nature’s Prophet, Puck, Timbersaw, and Pangolier. VG, meanwhile, went for an offlane Alchemist with Gyrocopter for the safe lane. Neon’s constant pressure proved to be too much, which resulted in the series to tie.
In Game 3, Neon was able to get Puck and Nature’s Prophet once again while adding Leshrac. With momentum on their side, Neon pushed and shoved VG to the wall. For VG, it seemed like a repeat of the previous game and GG was called barely 30 minutes into the game. Neon won the series and is guaranteed $25,000 of the prize money.
Day 4 Matches
For day four of the Playoffs, here are the matches:
- Upper Bracket Final
- Evil Geniuses vs PSG.LGD
- Schedule: April 3 at 4:00 a.m. ET
- Evil Geniuses vs PSG.LGD
- Lower Bracket Round 3
- Team Secret vs OB Esports x Neon
- Schedule: April 2 at 10:00 p.m. ET
- Invictus Gaming vs Thunder Predator
- Schedule: April 3 at 1:00 a.m. ET
- Team Secret vs OB Esports x Neon
What about you? What's your favorite moment of the tournament so far?
