DreamLeague Stockholm Major Playoffs Begin, Team Secret Dominates Group Stage

By eggs on Mar 16, 2019 04:26 UTC

The DreamLeague Major’s group stages concluded after a packed, two days of games. Mineski snuffed China’s chances to land four teams in the upper bracket, and Team Secret again looks like the strongest team out of the pack, sweeping a group that included Team Liquid.

Slacks and Bulldog team up to cast the El Clasico match

Even with the loss, Team Liquid, who last month grabbed the 1st place, $135k price at MDL Macau, was still favored to grab that 2nd upper bracket slot. Keen Gaming swept the decider series 2-0.

Keen Gaming rolls over Team Liquid and secures the upper bracket slot

Over in Group B, Fnatic and NiP had a close decider series, which came down to one final throne push. NiP, with a 7k lead, looked to close the game with Fnatic having 4 dead heroes. Fnatic bought back on two of their heroes, which resulted in one die-back, but they stalled enough for Dj to jump in and catch NiP with a well placed Black Hole.

Fnatic.Dj saves his team against NiP’s throne push

There might have been four Chinese teams in the upper bracket, if it weren’t for Mineski, who disposed of EHOME in two quick games, one of which ended in a 17 minute gg. Mineski has looked more consistent since their addition of PLD and Ahjit this year. They finished a respectable 5-6th place at ESL Katowice and held their own in the DreamLeague group stages. Tomorrow they'll face PSG.LGD in the upper bracket. It'll be a tough match for them, but just one series win in this tournament, whether in the upper or lower bracket, is enough to put them in the race for a TI9 slot.

EG and VG topped out of their groups against NaVi and Chaos Esports. EG so far has been the only hope for NA teams, as Forward Gaming and J.Storm bottomed out in their respective groups. The results so far have added fuel to the fire over whether NA should have been granted three slots for the Major.

The group stages start tomorrow, starting off with elimination best-of-ones in the lower bracket. The upper bracket is primed to be a brawl, containing some of the best teams on the circuit this season. In round 2, barring any upsets, we may see Secret vs. PSG.LGD and Evil Geniuses vs. Virtus.Pro. Be sure to check in with our partners at Loot.Bet, where you can peek at the matchups odds and bet on the games.