Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid kept themselves above the rest of the field by winning sweeps Tuesday during Group Stage 2 of DreamLeague Season 19.
Gaimin Gladiators beat Tundra Esports 2-0, and Liquid vanquished beastcoast by the same margin. Both teams improved to 4-1 in the stage with two days to go.
Meanwhile, Shopify Rebellion took sole possession of third place after beating Evil Geniuses 2-1, and OG topped TSM 2-1 to move out of a tie for last place.
Sixteen teams are competing in the $1 million Dota 2 event, which runs through Sunday. The winner will receive $300,000 and qualification to the Riyadh Masters.
Two groups consisting of eight teams battled in Group Stage 1. The top four teams from each group moved on to Group Stage 2, while the bottom four teams were eliminated.
Group Stage 2 merges the eight remaining teams into one group and features best-of-three matches. Four teams advance to the playoffs, with the top two teams moving into the upper bracket and the third- and fourth-place finishers competing in the lower bracket.
Those four teams will duke it out in a double-elimination playoff. Playoff matches are best-of-three leading to Sunday’s grand final, which is best-of-five.
On Tuesday, Gladiators beat Tundra in 29 minutes on red and 32 minutes on green. Liquid followed a 58-minute victory over beastcoast with a 33-minute win, both on red.
Shopify Rebellion opened with a 38-minute win on red. Evil Geniuses answered by winning in 42 minutes on red, but Rebellion prevailed in 44 minutes on the do-or-die third map, also on red.
OG was a 42-minute victor on red and TSM countered with a 34-minute triumph on red before OG clinched the match by winning in 32 minutes on green.
There are two more days of Group Stage 2 matches, including four matches Wednesday:
–Shopify Rebellion vs. beastcoast
–Tundra Esports vs. Evil Geniuses
–Team Liquid vs. TSM
–Gaimin Gladiators vs. OG
Group Stage 2 standings with match record, map record:
T1. Gaimin Gladiators, 4-1 (8-2)
T1. Team Liquid, 4-1 (8-3)
3. Shopify Rebellion, 3-2 (6-5)
T4. beastcoast, 2-3 (4-7)
T4. Evil Geniuses, 2-3 (6-8)
T4. OG, 2-3 (5-7)
T4. Tundra Esports, 2-3 (5-6)
8. TSM, 1-4 (4-8)
–Field Level Media