EPICENTER Moscow playoffs: compLexity and Newbee weather the lower brackets

EPICENTER Moscow playoffs results for day 2 are in! Three teams have been sent home already, Team Secret, Virtus.Pro and Alliance while compLexity Gaming and Newbee continue in the lower brackets another day. The action continues with Lower Brackets match between Evil Geniuses and compLexity Gaming at 10:00 CEST May 14th.

EPICENTER Moscow playoffs in the lower brackets resulted in three teams being eliminated and two teams holding on to their hopes for another day.

Alliance put an end to Team Secret’s EPICENTER Moscow run in the very first round of the Lower Brackets. Despite putting up a fight and taking one game in the series, Team Secret have not been able to perform to the standard of expectations since their new roster formed at the end of March.

Virtus.Pro had some revitalizing and brilliant plays and games, giving hope and promise to their revamped roster and potential. The CIS squad fell short to compLexity Gaming’s well oiled synergy and finely tuned team dynamics and precision. Eventually, compLexity was able to continue to shine with their 2:1 victory.

Alliance had an incredible run and gave fans some spectacular Dota. After upseting and eliminating Team Secret’s superstar lineup in a 2:0 clean sweep, they were forced to take on the incredibly strong and fearsome Newbee. Newbee’s 29 winning streak was only just broken by OG when they were knocked into the lower brackets 2:1 by the Europeans. Alliance took the challenge head on and fought valiantly against the Chinese threat before being eliminated 2:1.

EPICENTER Moscow playoffs results:

Lower Bracket match: Alliance vs Team Secret

Alliance outdrafted Team Secret in the first match. Secret then started out with a poor laning phase and started to lose all control of the match around minute 16. The Swedish squad continued to execute their strategy well and coordinate effectively to close out the game with a win.

The second match was in complete contrast to the first. Team Secret were in complete control and managed to close out the game in less than 30 minutes with ease thanks to their Drow strat paying off. The newly reformed European squad had tied the series up and forced a deciding third game.

The last match of the series proved to be all for Alliance. With a surprising Rubik first pick, they continued to outdraft and then outplay Team Secret. Their entire plan and strategy went well since the first moment of draft until they clinched the game and series, eliminating Team Secret from the event.

EPICENTER Moscow playoffs results Lower Bracket match:Alliance 2:1 Team Secret. Alliance continue in the lower brackets, Team Secret have been eliminated.

Lower Bracket match: Lower Bracket match: compLexity vs Virtus.Pro

The first game compLexity Gaming had a great draft against Virtus.Pro’s negative armor strategy. After outdrafting the CIS team, compLexity were able to execute their strategy with relative ease, leaving VP unable to gain any momentum or lead.

After losing in the first match and being slightly behind in the early game, Virtus.Pro shot forward with astounding strength and execution. The North American based team was outpicked, not having a good lineup to deal with puck or medusa. Shutting down compLexity and armed with the Medusa pick, the CIS squad easily took the victory with little contest. Sergey Alexandrovich “G” Bragin had a flawless game on Puck ending with 11:0:13. VP’s victory forced a third deciding game.

The last game of the series took an hour to decide even though compLexity Gaming had the lead and advantage for most of the match. Despite the CIS team once again going with their Medusa pick, the North American squad seemed ready for it this time. The Axe pick seemed to throw Virtus.Pro off and Linus “Limmp” Blomdin played it well while his brother, Rasmus “Chessie” Blomdin, had a spectacular game on Invoker.

EPICENTER Moscow playoffs results Lower Bracket match:compLexity 2:1 Virtus.Pro. compLexity continue in the lower brackets. Virtus.Pro have been eliminated.

Lower Bracket match: Lower Bracket match: Newbee vs Alliance

The first match of the series saw Alliance take on some of their beloved heroes, Io, Nature’s Prophet and a Slark. Newbee went with Wong “ChuaN” Hock Chuan’s enchantress, a Sven and Alchemist. The match started out dead even between the team for the first 20 minutes as Newbee was farming away and then started to slip steadily past Alliance. Becoming all too much for the Swedish team to handle, Newbee took the first match.

The second game gave Alliance the lead starting about 10 minutes into the game. Chen “Hao” Zhihao once again on Sven made things difficult for the Swedish team but around 27 minutes into the game Alliance had built up a 20k gold lead – all of which they lost over the course of the next 13 minutes as Newbee fought hard to not only make it even, but come out ahead. An amazing dream coil clutch play by Gustav “s4” Magnusson’s Puck secured the turn and win for Alliance. The series was even 1:1 and forced a deciding third game.

The last match of the series gave Alliance Sven and Nature’s Prophet while Newbee gave Hao his Gyrocopter and Zhang “Mu” Pan Dragon Knight. The first 20 minutes were all for Alliance who had taken a 15 minute roshan and was leading 6:0. However both Mu and Hao started to build up their farm and take kills, helping their item build substantially and eventually becoming much to strong for Alliance to handle. Newbee took the game and series, eliminating Alliance from the event.

EPICENTER Moscow playoffs results Lower Bracket match:Newbee 2:1 Alliance. Newbee continue in the lower brackets, Alliance have been eliminated.

EPICENTER Moscow main event

EPICENTER Moscow main event teams

• Team Secret
• Alliance
• Team Liquid
• OG
• Evil Geniuses
• Virtus.Pro
• Newbee by WildCard phase
• compLexity by WildCard phase

EPICENTER Moscow main event schedule

May, 14th Playoffs EPICENTER Moscow main event

• 10:00 CEST Lower Bracket match Evil Geniuses vs compLexity Gaming
• 14:00 CEST Lower Bracket match – Newbee vs Evil Geniuses/compLexity Gaming
• 18:00 CEST Upper Bracket final – OG vs Team Liquid

May, 15th Playoffs EPICENTER Moscow main event

• 10:00 CEST Lower Bracket final
• 14:00 CEST Grand Final

EPICENTER Moscow main event format

May 10th-11th – Group Stage

• Eight teams will compete – six invited teams and two coming from the offline qualifiers.
• Top two teams from each group will advance into the Upper Brackets of the main event.
• Bottom two teams from each group will start the main event in the Lower Brackets.
• The group stages will be closed to the public and, just like the offline qualifier, they will be held at a prestigious hotel in Moscow.

May 12th-15th – Main Event

• All series will be best-of-three.
• The Grand Finals will be best-of-five, with not Upper Bracket advantage.
• The main event will take place at the Crocus City Hall, in Moscow. Tickets will go on sale in early April.

EPICENTER Moscow prize pool distribution

• 1st place – $250,000
• 2nd place – $100,000
• 3rd place – $60,000
• 4th place – $30,000
• 5th-6th place – $20,000
• 7th-8th place -$10,000