PSG.LGD won both of their Friday matches at the PGL Arlington Major to remain the Dota event’s lone unbeaten and untied team through two days of competition in Arlington, Texas.
PSG.LGD downed OG and Fnatic in best-of-two action to sit atop Group A at 3-0-0, well ahead Outsiders and Royal Never Give Up, who both have one win and three draws through four matches.
Team Aster tied both of their Friday matches to stand as the lone unbeaten team in Group B at 2-2-0 (W-T-L). Aster wound up with 1-1 stalemates against Natus Vincere and Team Spirit.
After winning their first two tournament matches on Thursday, Spirit dropped their first Friday match to Evil Geniuses prior to the draw with Aster.
Natus Vincere, Spirit and Entity are now tied for second in Group B at 2-1-1 (W-T-L).
Seventeen teams from around the world are competing for shares of a $500,000 prize pool, including a grand prize of $200,000. In the Group Stage, they were drawn into groups of nine and eight for single round robins, with all matches best-of-two.
The top four teams will qualify for the upper bracket of the playoffs, and the fifth- and sixth-place teams from each group will advance to the lower bracket. The double-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches will take place next week, with the best-of-five grand final scheduled for Aug. 14.
PSG.LGD got past OG in 46 minutes and 29 minutes, both maps on green. China’s Wang “Ame” Chunyu paced PSG.LGD with an average kill-death-assist ratio of 11.5/1.0/6.5.
PSG.LGD then topped Fnatic in 32 minutes on red and 41 minutes on green behind an 11.0/3.0/7.5 K-D-A ratio from Ame.
Aster claimed their first map vs. Natus Vincere in 37 minutes on green before NaVi replied with a 34-minute win on green. Ukraine’s Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey produced a 6/3/7 K-D-A ratio for Natus Vincere, while China’s Du “Monet” Peng ended up at 11.0/2.5/5.0.
Spirit opened with a 51-minute victory on green against Aster, who replied with a 36-minute win on green. Monet posted a 10.5/2.0/16.5 K-D-A ratio. Russia’s Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek led Spirit at 6.5/4.5/6.5.
Evil Geniuses downed Spirit in 49 minutes on green and 42 minutes on red. The Philippines’ Abed “Abed” Yusop wound up with a 7.0/3.5/17.5 K-D-A ratio for Evil Geniuses. Ukraine’s Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk logged an 8.0/6.0/12.5 K-D-A ratio.
PGL Arlington Major Group Stage standings (match record via W-T-L, map record):
Group A
1. PSG.LGD, 3-0-0, 6-0
T2. Outsiders, 1-3-0, 5-3
T2. Royal Never Give Up, 1-3-0, 5-3
4. Team Liquid, 1-2-0, 4-2
T5. Fnatic, 0-3-1, 3-5
T5. Talon Esports, 1-1-2, 3-5
T7. OG, 0-2-1, 2-4
T7. Soniqs, 0-2-2, 2-6
T7. Thunder Awaken, 0-2-1, 2-4
Group B
1. Team Aster, 2-2-0, 6-2
T2. Entity, 2-1-1, 3-3
T2. Natus Vincere, 2-1-1, 5-3
T2. Team Spirit, 2-1-1, 5-3
T5. beastcoast, 1-1-2, 3-5
T5. BOOM Esports, 1-1-2, 3-5
T5. Evil Geniuses, 1-1-2, 3-5
8. Tundra Esports, 0-2-2, 2-6
–Field Level Media