Elite League Round-robin Stage Day 1: Team Spirit and BetBoom Team Remain Winless
The long-awaited second phase of the Elite League has begun, and we can finally see the top teams in the world competing again. Overall, most of the matches went as expected, but a few outliers generated interesting results.
The two best Eastern European teams, Team Spirit and the BetBoom Team began the tournament with a slow start, not managing to win a single map. Meanwhile, a team that shouldn’t have even been here, G2.iG, is surprising fans with satisfactory results.
Group A
Though it’s too early to celebrate, G2.iG, the team receiving a last-minute invite to replace LGD Gaming, is currently leading the group with a 3-1 record. However, most teams have only played one series so far.
Entity Gaming continues to find form, riding their momentum from the Swiss Stage, winning 2-0 against OG. DM was able to get his revenge against his former team.
The most exciting result of the day was Heroic sweeping the TI winners 2-0. The first game was a convincing stomp in favor of the South Americans. Brazilian mid laner 4nalog finished the map 15/0/21 on his Keeper of the Light. The second game was much closer. Heroic took an early lead, but Team Spirit pulled the game back in their favor. However, unsuccessful high ground attempts and disastrous fights for Spirit led Heroic to claw their way back and win the game.
Group B
In the opposite group, Aurora, playing with King as a stand-in, claimed the first position, while the BetBoom Team ended the day 0-4, losing every map they played.
Aurora had an inter-regional match against Blacklist International to start the day, where King was able to display his mechanical skill to the world. In a clean 2-0 sweep, King finished the series with a KDA of 13/0/24 across two maps, playing Naga Siren and Terrorblade.
Meanwhile, Team Liquid, a squad struggling for the past few months, demolished the BetBoom Team in their meeting, allowing no chance for the Eastern European squad. Both maps were total stomps, with the games ending in 28 and 23 minutes.
In the final series of the day, the BetBoom Team played their second match, this time against the Gaimin Gladiators. Overall, the BetBoom Team has a fantastic record against the Gladiators, but Quinn and company could strike back this time. The first map wasn’t too interesting, but the second delivered.
The two teams traded blows, and the net worth lead kept swinging back and forth. After getting Tier 5 neutral items, Quinn picked up a Pirate’s Hat on his Dragon Knight. Together with Seleri's Io, who had a Desolator, the two paired together to take out the BetBoom Team’s Barracks in mere seconds. Mega Creeps proved too much for the BetBoom Team, as they had to tap out of the game and lose the series 0-2.
Still, it’s only in the early days, and there is so much Dota to be played. The Elite League Round-robin stage will continue tomorrow with more matchups.