As expected, Thunder Predator managed to maintain its lead at the end of the Group Stage of the ongoing Dota 2 Singapore Major. The team finished a 5–2–0 standing and secured a spot in the Upper Bracket of the Playoffs. However, the road ahead looks challenging as its first match is against Team Secret.
Group Stage Results
After two days of the competition, it’s the Dota 2 teams from China that continue to flex. Joining Thunder Predator in the Upper Bracket are PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming. If you’ve been following this tournament, these are the same two teams that took the top spots of the Wild Card.
Sadly, the end of the Group Stage meant the end of the road for another team, which is Alliance that had a 0–4–3 standing.
These teams, meanwhile, are going to the Playoffs' Lower Bracket:
- Quincy Crew
- Team Liquid
- Team Aster
- OB Esports x Neon
Playoffs
All matches of the Upper Bracket Round 1 are happening on March 31. Here are the match-ups and our predictions:
- Evil Geniuses vs. Fnatic
- Prediction: It’s interesting to know that two members of EG previously played for Fnatic. We’re giving it to EG in three games because of those members.
- Invictus Gaming vs. Vici Gaming
- Prediction: We’re giving this one to iG in just two games. VG may have been showing some strong performance but they’re going against China’s top Dota 2 team.
- Thunder Predator vs. Team Secret
- Prediction: This is likely the match that everyone is looking forward to. With current momentum, it’s easy to side with Thunder Predator. We actually are hoping for them to grab the victory. However, Secret has a lot of tricks up their sleeve and Thunder Predator may need to up their game to get the win. It’s likely going to a Game 3 in favor of Secret.
- Virtus.pro vs. PSG.LGD
- Prediction: For many, it’s easy to go for LGD. But we see that VP may also take the win. If LGD isn’t careful, VP would likely sweep them.
Something to Think About
With this being the first Dota 2 LAN event, there were several expectations. Last week, we discussed some of the problems already faced by the tournament even before it began.
Now with the tournament in progress, there are those in the community that have noticed another issue. While the prize pool of $500,000 is indeed significant, it meant that not all teams get to have any cash prize.
Based on the tournament format, teams in the ninth to 16th places get nothing, as in nada. Compared to previous Majors, which had a $1 million prize pool, even losing teams got to take home some cash.
Making it even worse is that the same teams going home and not taking any cash prize also won’t be getting any DPC points. Can you imagine teams like Team Nigma and Alliance traveling halfway around the world, playing games, and then going home with nothing?
What about you? Enjoying the tournament so far? What do you think of the issues that are cropping up?
