Four powerhouses up for elimination at Dota 2 Stockholm Major

It’s a fantastic day for fans of American and Western European Dota teams, which are at the top of their game. Followers of Team Spirit, OG, Team Liquid, or the Southeast Asian powerhouses, are playing lower bracket on Day 2.

The second day of ESL One Stockholm Major Playoffs features elimination rounds. Four teams will be packing their bags tonight!

@ESLDota2

Recapping the first Playoffs duels

It couldn’t get spicier on the first day after Team Spirit, the International 10 Champions took a massive L from Tundra Esports. The series was a close one, lasting a full set, however, Team Spirit just couldn’t deal with the enemy KOTL’s blasts of Illuminate. The ability was effective at driving off Team Spirit’s supports away, leaving their carries to fight alone.

Meanwhile, OG lost to the greater opponent, TeamSoloMid, which managed to find some openings with an aggressive draft and powerful teamfight disables. What’s interesting to note is TSM deliberately let OG pick cheese heroes, notably Io. The hero is highly controversial since the Dota 2 Patch 7.31 for its global presence and has high pick/ban rate. Yet, TSM knew they could render OG obsolete with silence debuffs via Night Stalker and Silencer.

Third, we had T1, opting for a more defensive draft against Gaimin Gladiators’ first-pick Storm Spirit. The initiative was ineffective as Gaimin snowballed the rounds with midgame strategy using durable and pushing heroes. Last but not least, Thunder Awaken had a close series with BetBoom Team, but ultimately won against BetBoom’s lacking durability.

The four series each had their moments, but the real action kicks off on Day 2 as four teams face eliminations. We know the first round in Upper Bracket is always used to test out the power rankings, now the fun begins.

Lower Bracket Elimination Matches on Day 2

We will definitely bid farewell to one SEA team today, either Fnatic or T1. OG ends up in a spot in the bracket where they will have to eliminate all SEA teams if they want to advance forward into the bracket. Spirit and BetBoom fight to keep the EEU/CIS dream alive as well.

Team Spirit vs beastcoast

With tournament life on the line for eight teams, this will be a testament to the teams’ hard-fought regional leagues. Team Spirit vs beastcoast should be one-sided in favor of the former, regardless of their losses to Gaimin, Team Liquid, and Tundra Esports. Although, there’s spectator concerns on the hesitation by Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek during crucial moments, such as when they didn’t finish Roshan while Tundra had two carries down.

BetBoom Team vs Team Liquid

The underdog versus the highly-anticipated powerhouse. In most scenarios, we would favor Team Liquid, especially after two promising DPC (2021-22) Tours. However, Liquid played poorly during their group, where they lost to Thunder Awaken and TSM. Contrary to popular belief, the American teams have improved phenomenally while old-school powerhouse, EG faltered.

As such, even if BetBoom is the underdog candidate, which barely had any accomplishment since qualifying for Division 1. There’s likelihood where BetBoom gives Liquid a run for their money. After all, considering how underwhelming Liquid’s hero picks are, we could see this being their downfall.

OG vs BOOM Esports

Arguably the most anticipated match in the lower bracket is OG vs BOOM Esports. For one, OG is doing exceptionally well despite not competing with a full roster. Meanwhile, BOOM Esports fans are still on the bandwagon for a potential lower bracket run.

After all, we do feel like BOOM is saving strategies up till the group stage. They ended it with five ties and one loss to Tundra. Perhaps it is intentional, or not, regardless this opens a whole gig of potential for BOOM Esports. If their drafts in groups were just the tip of the iceberg, then we best anticipate BOOM to face Team Spirit (assuming both beat their respective opponents today).

Anyhow, OG is likely at the end of the road as opponents have their eyes on Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf, the prodigy behind OG’s third carry meta.

T1 vs Fnatic

It never feels good to see all three SEA representatives in the lower bracket, struggling for tournament life. After BOOM Esports’ strong showing at GAMERS GALAXY Dubai 2022, fans had high expectations for the SEA candidate to win majors.

However, alongside the OG vs BOOM scenario, and this clash between local brethren, we might just end up with only one surviving SEA team today. Anyways, T1 and Fnatic being DPC SEA Tour 2 participants, have a long-standing rivalry to outwit one another. When it comes to shove, T1 does have a better foundation on midgame runs and playing around objectives early onwards. Couple that with Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte Santos and Karl “Karl” Matthew Baldovino, T1 can leverage on good executions.

Fnatic, on the other hand, looked weak, which contradicts their recent dominance in DPC SEA Tour 2. They were in last place in group B, if we exclude Mind Games’ forfeit. Hence, we would put T1 at better odds of beating their regional rival today, despite Fnatic’s wins during past encounters.