Group Stage 2 action began on Friday at DreamLeague Season 19, with Gaimin Gladiators, Tundra Esports, OG and beastcoast opening the stage with victories.
Gaimin Gladiators defeated Team Liquid 2-0; Tundra swept TSM and OG swept Shopify Rebellion by the same score; and beastcoast rallied to beat Evil Geniuses 2-1.
OG and beastcoast capitalized on their Group B tiebreaker victories Thursday to conclude Group Stage 1 and advance to Group Stage 2.
Sixteen teams are competing in the $1 million Dota 2 event, which runs through April 23. 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 all eight 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 bracket. All playoff matches are best-of-three, besides the April 23 grand final, which is best-of-five. Whoever wins that match earns the $300,000 and qualifies for the Riyadh Masters.
In Thursday’s best-of-one tiebreakers, beastcoast defeated Team Spirit in 54 minutes on green to secure third place in Group B and OG beat Team Spirit in 67 minutes on red to take the fourth and final advancing spot of the group, eliminating Spirit. TSM also won a pair of tiebreaker matches — over Execration in 42 minutes on red and over Team Aster in 45 minutes on red — to earn fourth place in Group A and advance.
On Friday, Gaimin Gladiators took down Team Liquid in 25 minutes on red and in 30 minutes on green. Liquid had gone undefeated in the prior stage, winning Group B with four wins and three draws.
Tundra was a 41-minute winner on red before completing their sweep of TSM with a 28-minute victory on green.
OG took care of Shopify Rebellion in 37 minutes and 34 minutes, both on green.
Evil Geniuses posted a 40-minute win on red to take a 1-0 lead on beastcoast, but beastcoast responded with their own 40-minute win on red. In the decisive third map, beastcoast prevailed in 50 minutes on green.
Group Stage 2 standings with match record, map record:
T1. beastcoast, 1-0 (2-1)
T1. Gaimin Gladiators, 1-0 (2-0)
T1. OG, 1-0 (2-0)
T1. Tundra Esports, 1-0 (2-0)
T5. Evil Geniuses, 0-1 (1-2)
T5. Shopify Rebellion, 0-1 (0-2)
T5. Team Liquid, 0-1 (0-2)
T5. TSM, 0-1 (0-2)
–Field Level Media