Azure Ray Survive Team Zero Scare To Join DreamLeague Season 23 Teams
The Chinese Qualifiers for DreamLeague Season 23 featured a handful of upsets, but at the end, the top favorite to win, Azure Ray, ended up getting the job done.
In the first round of matches, Azure Ray faced a bunch of random players and easily won the series 2-0, no dramas there. While this was happening, LGD Gaming lost 1-2 to Team KEV, and got dropped to the Lower Bracket.
Faith_bian's next opponents were Team KEV, who had recently qualified for the Elite League tournament. However, Team KEV had to forfeit the match giving Azure Ray a default win. On the other side of the Upper Bracket, Team Zero, a stack consisting of Erika and ponlo, upset G2.iG by winning the series 2-0 after two close games.
The results thus far have resulted in an Upper Bracket match between Team Zero and Azure Ray. The favorites comfortably took the first map after a slow 40-minute win, but threw their advantage in the second map to let Team Zero win a map. Still, the situation was handled properly as Lou played a flawless game on Weaver to secure the third game and the series.
This victory meant Azure Ray would wait for their opponents in the Grand Final, with the winner receiving a slot in the $1,000,000 DreamLeague Season 23 tournament.
G2.iG was busy clawing their way back through the Lower Bracket, eliminating LGD Gaming from the qualifier in the process. After winning against Team Dark Horse, G2.iG set up a rematch with Team Zero in the Lower Bracket Final.
Monet and the crew showed their previous loss to Team Zero was a fluke, easily taking the first game in only 25 minutes. However, they had the lead in the second and third games, but blew it both times, losing the series to Team Zero and getting eliminated from the tournament.
In the Grand Final series, Azure Ray was tasked with a rematch against Team Zero. With a clean game from Ori’s Primal Beast, Azure Ray easily grabbed the first map. In the second, Team Zero had full control with a 22,000 net worth lead at 32 minutes. Azure Ray managed to dwindle the lead down to nothing, but Team Zero still managed to close the game to tie the series.
The two teams continued to trade maps, with the third and fourth games being stomps from both sides. This led to the series being tied 2-2, even though all fans thought Azure Ray would win the series 3-0 or 3-1. Still, the experience in the Azure Ray roster showed, as the squad kept their cool and won the fifth map to get the job done.
Azure Ray claimed the only slot in the Chinese DreamLeague Season 23 Qualifier. LGD Gaming faced an early exit after losing to G2.iG in the Lower Bracket, while Team Zero won both matches against G2.iG to also send them packing.