The Playoff Stage of ESL One Stockholm kicked off Monday in Sweden when Tundra Esports, Thunder Awaken, TSM and Gaimin Gladiators advanced with upper-bracket quarterfinal wins.
The four losing clubs — Team Spirit, BetBoom Team, OG and T1 — dropped into the lower bracket.
All playoff matches are best-of-three until Sunday’s best-of-five Grand Final determines the winner of the Dota Pro Circuit season’s first major. The winners will earn a $200,000 grand prize.
Tundra, which won Group A with the best overall record in the Group Stage (five wins, one tie, no losses), continued their winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Team Spirit. Tundra won in 33 minutes on red before Spirit made things interesting with a 59-minute triumph on red. Tundra closed out the best-of-three with a 44-minute win, again on red.
Thunder Awaken also won by a 2-1 score over BetBoom. They started with a 41-minute win on red before losing on green in 48 minutes in the second map. Thunder Awaken won in 44 minutes on red to break the tie.
TSM swept OG 2-0 with wins of 56 minutes on red and 39 minutes on green. And Group B champion Gaimin Gladiators beat T1 2-0 by prevailing in 33 minutes on green and 22 minutes on red.
Fourteen teams from around the world entered the season’s first major (prior to Mind Games’ disqualification), beginning in two groups of seven in a round-robin Group Stage. All Group Stage matches were best-of-two. The top four teams in each group qualified for the upper bracket of the playoffs and the fifth- and sixth-place teams were slotted in the lower bracket.
Dota Pro Circuit previously removed Mind Games from the competition due to ongoing travel visa issues for multiple team members.
The playoffs continue Tuesday with three first-round matches in the lower bracket:
–Team Spirit vs. beastcoast
–BetBoom Team vs. Team Liquid
–OG vs. BOOM Esports
ESL One Stockholm prize pool, Dota Pro Circuit points
1. TBD — $200,000, 680 points
2. TBD — $100,000, 610 points
3. TBD — $75,000, 530 points
4. TBD — $50,000, 460 points
5-6. TBD — $25,000, 385 points
7-8. TBD — $12,500, 240 points
9-12. TBD — no prize, no points
13. Evil Geniuses — no prize, no points
DQ. Mind Games — no prize, no points
–Field Level Media