This April, the Dota 2 activity begins online at the Elite League tournament with twenty-four global teams contending in two group stages and a playoff till April 14th, aiming to win the US$300,000 from a total US$960,000 prize pool.
The Group Stage 1 of the Elite League concluded on 5th of April, with BOOM Esports, Entity, Tundra Esports, OG, PSG Quest, Aurora, Blacklist International, and HEROIC qualifying to the Group Stage 2 from the initial field of 16 teams.
The first stage followed a Swiss-system format, wherein a team needed to secure three best-of-three matches for progression.
Two teams coming out at the commercial end in the first stage were South America’s BOOM Esports and Western Europe’s Entity, both of which posted a flawless 3-0 record, securing their Group Stage 2 spots.
BOOM clinched wins against PSG Quest and Talon Esports(2-1), followed by a win against Team Secret. In contrast, Entity demonstrated their supremacy by comfortably winning their matches against 9Pandas, HEROIC and OG.
The teams that secured their spots in the next stage with a 3-1 win-loss record were Western Europe’s Tundra Esports and OG along with MENA’s PSG Quest.
Tundra staged a comeback after their opening match was lost to HEROIC by posting consecutive victories against 9Pandas, Nigma Galaxy, and Blacklist International. Similarly, PSG Quest staging a comeback after their loss to BOOM, by beating KEV, Nouns, and Talon Esports.
OG prevailed over Blacklist International and Nouns in their first two matches but experienced their first defeat against Tundra. They then triumphed over HEROIC(2-1) to secure their second stage berth.
The last three teams to qualify for Group Stage 2 included Aurora and Blacklist International from Southeast Asia, and South America’s HEROIC. All three teams had a 3-2 win-loss record.
Aurora posted victories against Virtus.pro, KEV, and Team Secret after losing to Nigma Galaxy and HEROIC. Blacklist International, meanwhile, swept the Team Secret, Virtus.pro and Rest Farmers, after their defeats came against Tundra and OG.
HEROIC defeated Tundra, Aurora, and Talon Esports to secure their berth after losses to OG and Entity.
The teams that failed to advance from Group Stage 1 included Talon Esports (2-3), Team Secret (2-3), Virtus.pro (2-3), KEV (1-3), Nigma Galaxy (1-3), Nouns (1-3), 9Pandas (0-3), and Rest Farmers (0-3). These eight teams will receive a consolation prize of US$10,000.
The Group Stage 2 of the Elite League will be conducted from 5th to 10th April and will see a round-robin format with two groups of teams. Teams that progressed from Stage 1 will be joined by eight directly invited teams. Invited teams include Team Spirit, BetBoom Team, Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators, Team Falcons, Xtreme Gaming, Azure Ray, and G2.iG.
In Group Stage 2, every match will be a best-of-two, with the top 4 teams in each group moving to a double-elimination playoff. The top 2 teams will have the advantage of upper bracket berths, while third and fourth position teams will begin in the lower bracket.
The bottom four teams in each group will be eliminated and will receive US$20,000 for their efforts.
The Group formations for Elite League’s Group Stage 2 are as follows:
Group A: Azure Ray, Entity, G2.iG, HEROIC, OG, PSG Quest, Team Falcons, Team Spirit
Group B: Aurora, BetBoom Team, Blacklist International, BOOM Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, Xtreme Gaming
Following the Group Stage 2, the Elite League will have a day’s break before the Playoffs from 12th to 14th April. All qualifying teams for the Playoffs are guaranteed at least US$30,000 in winnings, with everyone aiming for the US$300,000 primary prize.
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