Team Liquid took down the Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 on Saturday to advance to the Grand Final of the DreamLeague Season 19.
The Gladiators will now face Shopify Rebellion for the right to advance to the championship match after Shopify prevailed over Tundra Esports 2-1.
Playoff matches are best-of-three leading to Sunday’s grand final, which is best-of-five. The winner will receive $300,000 and qualification to the Riyadh Masters.
Liquid made short work of the Gladiators in the first match, winning in 35 minutes on red, before the second game became an absolute marathon. Liquid ultimately prevailed in 77 minutes on green to advance to the final.
Shopify grabbed an early lead against Tundra, winning on green in a speedy 25 minutes. Tundra responded with a 57-minute victory on green, before Shopify took the series with a third-game win in 60 minutes on red.
Tundra is now assured of a fourth-place finish (with an $85,000 prize) after being one of the four qualifiers for the double-elimination tournament.
Sixteen teams began the $1 million Dota 2 event. Two groups, each 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 merged the eight remaining teams into one group and featured best-of-three matches. Four teams advanced 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.
Sunday will feature two matches, the elimination game first before the Grand Final:
— Gaimin Gladiators vs. Shopify Rebellion (lower-bracket final)
— Team Liquid vs. tbd (Grand Final)
DreamLeague Season 19 Group Stage 2 final standings with match record, map record:
1. Team Liquid, 6-1 (12-3)
2. Gaimin Gladiators, 6-1 (12-4)
3. Shopify Rebellion, 5-2 (10-5)
4. Tundra Esports, 4-3 (9-7)
5. OG, 2-5 (6-11)
6. beastcoast, 2-5 (4-11)
7. Evil Geniuses, 2-5 (8-12)
8. TSM, 1-6 (4-12)
DreamLeague Season 19 prize pool
1. $300,000, berth in Riyadh Masters
2. $175,000
3. $120,000
4. $85,000 — Tundra Esports
5. $52,500 — OG
6. $47,500 — beastcoast
7. $42,500 — Evil Geniuses
8. $37,500 — TSM
9-10. $25,000 — Execration, Team Spirit
11-12. $20,000 — Team Aster, Talon Esports
13-14. $15,000 — ex-HellRaisers, Nigma Galaxy
15-16. $10,000 — Entity, nouns
–Field Level Media