The Wild Card Stage of the Dota 2 WePlay AniMajor is finally done, which means four teams have been eliminated. The other two teams that moved to the next stage are Vici Gaming and Team Nigma.
VG was actually the first team to join the Group Stage. The team ended the Wild Card with a 2–3–0 standing. Nigma, on the other hand, had to go the distance but eventually joined VG with a standing of 2–2–1.
Before we go into the highlights of this stage of the tournament, the teams battling it out were:
- AS Monaco Gambit
- Execration
- Invictus Gaming
- Team Nigma
- Team Secret
- Vici Gaming
Day 1
The first day of the WePlay AniMajor was surprising, to say the least. Nigma took an early lead by winning against ASM at 2–0. That lead would disappear later in the day as Nigma lost to iG at 0–2.
Overall, the day was a surprise with most of the matches ending in a draw. We say surprise because there was this expectation that some teams would really do well against the others.
Day 2
The second day was pretty much a do-or-die situation for all teams. VG secured a placement for the Group Stage by winning against ASM 2–0 and then a little while against iG, also 2–0.
By the middle of the day, it was clear that ASM and Execration had no chances of moving to the next stage. That left Nigma, Secret, and iG vying for the second spot. Secret eventually dropped from contention after getting draws against Nigma and Execration as well as losing to iG.
Nigma had a good lead but iG managed to catch up which resulted in a tie-breaker.
The Tie-breaker
With elimination on the line, a lot of people were surprised with the Luna pick by Nigma for Igor "iLTW" Filatov. There were some doubts as to this but iLTW showed everyone just how right it was. The Luna pick plus Nigma’s aggressive playstyle appeared to be too much for iG. GG was eventually called with iLTW ending the match at eight kills and no deaths.
Group Stage
With the Wild Card over, the tournament now moves to the Group Stage. The teams are:
- beastcoast
- Evil Geniuses
- PSG.LGD
- Team Liquid
- Team Nigma
- Team Spirit
- TNC Predator
- Vici Gaming
Final Thoughts
While there were expectations from iG and Secret, the only thing they lost by being eliminated was the chance to get some cash prize. That’s because the two have already received a direct invite to the upcoming TI.
One surprise performance though would have to be ASM. Despite having some roster issues, they managed to force a tie against Secret and iG.
So what did you think of the Wild Card? Ready for the Group Stage?
