PSG.LGD and Team Spirit won Thursday to advance to the upper-bracket final at the PGL Arlington Major in Arlington, Texas.
PSG.LGD came from behind to defeat OG 2-1, while Team Spirit swept Team Aster 2-0. When the winning clubs meet Saturday, it will be a rematch of the grand final of last month’s Riyadh Masters, where PSG.LGD won a $1.5 million grand prize.
With their losses, OG and Team Aster moved to the lower-bracket quarterfinals.
In Thursday’s other match, beastcoast rallied for a 2-1 win over Fnatic in the first round of the lower bracket. Fnatic was eliminated from the tournament.
Seventeen teams from around the world began the major 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 fifth- and sixth-place teams from each group advanced to the lower bracket. The double-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches takes place this week, with the best-of-five grand final scheduled for Sunday.
OG beat PSG.LGD in 22 minutes on red to kick off their match, but PSG.LGD tied it with a 35-minute win on green and locked up the victory by hanging on for a 50-minute win on green. Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida of China had a kills-deaths-assists ratio of 14-7-16 for PSG.LGD in the third map, while teammate and countryman Wang “Ame” Chunyu had a team-high 11 kills with 14 assists.
Spirit beat Aster in 34 minutes and 44 minutes, each time on red. Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek of Russia averaged a K-D-A of 8.5-0.5-7.5 to lead Spirit.
After Fnatic opened with a 45-minute on red, beastcoast scored wins of 26 minutes and 45 minutes on green to survive and advance. Jean “Chris Luck” Salazar of Peru posted a 22-4-5 ratio on the last map to propel beastcoast, and Adrian “Wisper” Dobles of Bolivia averaged 14.6 assists per map.
The Playoffs continue Friday with three matches:
–beastcoast vs. Outsiders (lower bracket Round 2)
–Entity vs. BOOM Esports (lower bracket Round 2)
— Team Aster vs. Entity/BOOM winner (lower bracket quarterfinals)
PGL Arlington Major prize pool
1. TBD — $200,000, 820 DPC points
2. TBD — $100,000, 740
3. TBD — $75,000, 670
4. TBD — $50,000, 590
5-6. TBD — $25,000, 515
7-8. TBD — $12,500, 360
9-12. Fnatic, Royal Never Give Up, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid — no prize money
13-14. Talon Esports, Natus Vincere — no prize money
15-16. Thunder Awaken, Tundra Esports — no prize money
17. Soniqs — no prize money
–Field Level Media