Team Liquid made progress through the lower bracket with a pair of victories at the ESL One Berlin Major playoffs Friday in Germany.
Liquid opened the day by sweeping Team Aster 2-0 in the second round of the lower bracket. They advanced to face Tundra Esports in the quarterfinals and won that match 2-0 as well.
In the other match of the day, Evil Geniuses took down Talon Esports 2-0 in the lower-bracket second round to set up a meeting with OG on Saturday in the quarters.
The second Dota major of the season began April 26 in Berlin with a prize pool of $500,000.
Eighteen teams from around the world participated in the group stage, split into two groups of nine. A single round robin was contested with all matches best-of-two. The top four teams from each group advanced to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the fifth- and sixth-place teams were slotted into the lower bracket and the rest were eliminated.
The double-elimination playoff bracket runs through Sunday. All matches are best-of-three until Sunday’s grand final, which will be best-of-five.
On Friday, Liquid outlasted Aster in 55 minutes on red before notching a 36-minute triumph on green. Later in the day, Liquid handled Tundra in 49 minutes on green and in 38 minutes on red.
EG defeated Talon in 55 minutes on red before cruising to a 26-minute clinching victory, also on red.
Action continues Saturday with three matches:
–Gaimin Gladiators vs. 9Pandas (upper-bracket final)
–OG vs. Evil Geniuses (lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–Team Liquid vs. OG-EG winner (lower-bracket semifinals)
ESL One Berlin Major prize pool, Dota Pro Circuit points
1. $200,000, 500
2. $100,000, 450
3. $75,000, 400
4. $50,000, 350
5-6. $25,000, 300 — Tundra Esports, TBD
7-8. $12,500, 200 — Team Aster, Talon Esports
9-12. No money, no points — Team Spirit, Xtreme Gaming, Shopify Rebellion, PSG.LGD
13-14. No money, no points — BetBoom Team, beastcoast
15-16. No money, no points — Execration, Team SMG
17-18. No money, no points — TSM, Invictus Gaming
–Field Level Media