Manila Major Group stage: LGD start in Upper Brackets; Evil Geniuses take Lower

Manila Major Group stage results day 2 are in and groups C and D have been played out to the finish. Team Liquid, LGD Gaming, MVP.Phoenix and Fnatic will start the playoffs in the upper brackets. Mineski, ViCi Gaming.Reborn, Evil Geniuses and Alliance will start out in the brutal best-of-one lower bracket elimination matches. The action resumes Tuesday, June 7 at 04:00 CEST with two upper bracket playoff matches, followed by the four elimination best-of-one lower bracket games.

The Manila Major Group stage has come to an end as Groups C and D have now concluded. After turning up the heat with amazing Dota 2 games over the last two days, temperatures will taper off and simmer for the next few days while teams begin to work on their playoff strategies until Tuesday.

On the heels of their championship title and success a EPICENTER Moscow only weeks ago – Team Liquid continued excite and thrill fans across the globe. With well coordinated plays and amazing displays of adaptability and the ability to punish and capitalize on opponents actions, the European mix took the first seed for the upper brackets in their group.

Being denied a direct invite, LGD Gaming qualified for the event but proved their participation was more than deserved. The Chinese team dropped only one game – to the TI5 championship team, Evil Geniuses. Securing both of their series in a convincing and thrilling manner, the qualified team took the top seed in Group D and will start in the upper brackets of the main event.

The local heroes, Mineski, were unable to secure a series victory and will begin their playoff journey in the brutal best-of-one lower brackets. The team did manage to bring forward some exciting records and games for their fans to be proud of.

ViCi Gaming.Reborn was a disappointment to many fans as they were not able to claim a single win in any of their matches. Having showed much promise in the weeks prior, their results will mean they have to find a way way to clear the best-of-one lower brackets in order to redeem themselves.

Alliance, MVP.Phoenix and Fnatic all demonstrated flashes of brilliance and stellar performances. Evil Geniuses‘s start in the lower brackets by being upset by MVP.Phoenix in the decider series was unexpected.

The group phase has finished and the teams will take a breather from all of the excitement and fierce competition as they prepare for the Manila Major playoffs. Eight teams will begin the main event in the upper brackets hoping to secure the high road towards victory. Eight teams will start in the lower brackets fighting for their survival in the deadly, best-of-one elimination matches.

Manila Major Group stage: Match recap

Team Liquid at Shanghai Major courtesy of RUHUB

In the first game of the series, Team Liquid drafted Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka his signature Earth Spirit. While the early game was looking good for Alliance with great ward placements giving the Swedes much vision, Team Liquid was usually slightly ahead. During an intense fight at the Roshan pit Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen stole the aegis and took down three heroes from Allaince. The fight was a pivotal point for the European squad to gain momentum and push through to the end with greater ease.

The second game Alliance was filled with swings in leads and momentum. A dominant performance by Gustav “s4” Magnusson on Queen of Pain and Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg playing one of his signature heroes – Nature’s Prophet, Alliance were sure to find their victory. Their win forced a deciding third game.

The last match of the series was surprisingly one sided and heavily favored Team Liquid. With a perfect game on Queen of Pain mid by Adrian “FATA-“ Trinks amazing game on Lycan by MATUMBAMAN, the European mix plowed through the Swedes in only 25 minutes with a score of 23:7. Team Liquid continue to showcase well synchronized combos and team synergy.

Manila Major Group stage results: Team Liquid 2:1 Alliance

Fnatic during Manila Major Groups

The first game featured Fnatic drafting Kunkka for Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung on solo mid lane, which he played beautifully. Paired with incredible performances by Zheng “Miduan” Yeik Nai on slark and Adam Erwann Shah “343” bin Akhtar Hussein on Bounty Hunter, the Malaysian team seized control around 11 minutes into the game and never looked back.

The second game once again saw Fnatic draft an unconventional pick for Mushi with Necrophos in the solo mid role. ViCi Gaming.Reborn took an Alchemist and Batrider which were both shut down fairly early. After a slight lead in the laning phase, the Chinese team quickly lost their footing and about 14 minutes in, Fnatic took a good team fight and a few towers back to back. Extending their lead, they continued to press forward with ease and seal the victory and series.

Manila Major Group stage results: ViCi Gaming.Reborn 0:2 Fnatic

Evil Geniuses at EPICENTER Moscow

Evil Geniuses appeared to have a much stronger and well thought out draft in the first game. A dominant game on Sven by Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling and a flawless game by Clinton “Fear” Loomis on Doom made it possible for the North American’s to snowball to the end starting at about 15 minutes into the game following a very evenly matched start.

The second match of the series witnessed Mineski serve Evil Geniuses the same type of control and dominance the local team was subjected to in the first game. Ryan “Bimbo” Jay Qui take an exceptional game on Lifestealer and after the initial laning stage and early game, the Filipino team completely ran away with the lead and game, securing the win with ease and forcing a third game.

The last mach saw Evil Geniuses take the reins early, creating an almost 14k gold lead 29 minutes into the game – only to lose it drastically and give Mineski a glimmer of hope to stay in the game. After Mineski evened out the game, and take a slight lead, Evil Geniuses were quick to seize it back and quickly then end the game and claim the victory.

Manila Major Group stage results: Evil Geniuses 2:1 Mineski

LGD at SL iLeague Dota 2 Invitational playoffs courtesy of StarLadder Flickr

The first match belonged completely to LGD Gaming. Although their lead started out small, it steadily continued and increased until about 17 minutes in when they started to pull ahead much quicker and stronger. Lu “Maybe” Yao’s Invoker was stellar and Sun “Agressif” Zheng shined on his signature hero Gyrocopter.

The second match of the series the Korean team were dominating most of the game but fell short of being able to seal the deal and take the victory. After 63 minutes of competition, LGD secured the win once they took the lead at minute 55. Maybe’s Tinker seemed to have gotten the better of the Korean team despite the strong performances by Pyo “MP” No-a on Invoker and Kim “QO” Seon-yeop’s Slardar.

Manila Major Group stage results: MVP.Phoenix 0:2 LGD Gaming

Team Liquid during Manila Major Group stage

Despite the first game of the series starting out perfectly even for the first 20 minutes, Midone on Ember Spirit started to lose his grasp on the game and began to feed kills to Team Liquid. Being ones to capitalize on moments well, Team Liquid seized the chance and momentum. Some fantastic combo’s and plays by Fnatic wouldn’t be enough to turn things back around for them and regain their pace. They held out as long as they could but they had fallen too far behind and Team Liquid had become to strong.

The second match Mushi was outplayed by FATA- in the mid lane but by the end Mushi had more than made up for it. Overall Team Liquid had control and the lead for the first 24 minutes and Fnatic turned it around quickly after finding some openings and taking advantage by re-engaging in fights and pushing. Chong Xin “Ohaiyo” Khoo had a great game on TideHunter, with on point rotations and critical ravages. After over extending, Team Liquid lost the match forcing a deciding third game.

Fnatic struck first in the last game landing first blood. The drafts were fairly straight forward with the exception of Leshrac for Team Lycan, but both teams went with some unconventional lanes. Team Liquid outplayed Fnatic despite a commendable effort and very evenly matched first 20 minutes.

Manila Major Group stage results Group C winners: Fnatic 1:2 Team Liquid. Team Liquid will take the top seed for the group and a slot in the UB of The Playoffs

LGD Gaming at Manila Major Group Stage

Evil Geniuses came out of the gate ready to take control – and did. From the first moment of the game, the North American’s had the lead and control of the match. Continuing to extend their lead, the shut down their opponents and pressed forward to take objectives.

LGD Gaming once again picked up an Invoker for Maybe, which he played perfectly with a 6:0:13 result. Aggressif had a strong performance on Lycan and the Chinese team were able to shut down the Doom and LifeStealer early on. Starting at 2 minutes, they took the lead and never let it go, heavily controlling the game until the end. Their victory forced the deciding match.

The last game of the series was almost one hour long, illustrating how much both teams were playing to win. While Evil Geniuses mostly had the edge through the majority of the match, LGD kept knocking them down to even. After a few cycles, 50 minutes into the game, LGD finally seized the control and advantage to swing the game into their favor and secure the win. Maybe’s Invoker continued to be played exceptionally well with Agressif having another strong performance, this time on Phantom Lancer.

Manila Major Group stage results Group D winners: EG 1:2 LGD. LGD will take the top seed for the group and a slot in the UB of The Playoffs.

Alliance during EPICENTER Moscow playoffs

The first match of the series took almost one hour to conclude. The game was dead even for the first 37 minutes of the game. ViCi Gaming.Reborn then took the lead for the next ten minutes before Alliance staged a comeback. With approximately a 30k comeback Alliance secured the first win in 56 minutes.

The second game again started out even relatively even between the two teams with slight swings in advantage back and forth. By 23 minutes Alliance had taken the lead again and was able to retain their control and position until the end of the match. With a remarkable performance by Gustav “s4” Magnusson on Queen of Pain and nicely farmed Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg on Broodmother, topping the net-worth chart, Alliance was able to easily cruise to the victory.

Manila Major Group stage Group C Elimination series results: Alliance 2:0 ViCi Gaming.Reborn. ViCi Gaming.Reborn drops to the lower bracket

MVP.Phoenix at StarLadder iLeague Dota Invitational courtesy of SL flickr

Mineski convincingly took the first game of the series from MVP.Phoenix. The local team started out the from the first moments taking the lead and steadily built it up ending with an almost 40k gold lead in 33 minutes. Benhur “Benhur” Lawis was a highlight of the event with his Gold per minute success and flawless performance.

MVP.Phoenix retaliated in the second match. After being neck and neck for the first 16 minutes of the game, the Korean squad pushed ahead. With pick offs and good team fights and combos, MVP.Phoenix were able to secure the lead and finish the game to their advantage in just under 30 minutes. Their victory forced a deciding third game.

The last match of the game last over one hour even though MVP.Phoenix had a considerable advantage and lead starting at 30 minutes. At the end it turned out be a megas vs megas with MVP.Phoenix edging out Mineski at 71 minutes. Mineski had fantastic synergy but the Koreans were able to outplay them to take too often.

Manila Major Group stage results Group D Elimination series: Mineski 1:2 MVP.Phoenix. Mineski drops to the lower bracket

Fnatic during Manila Major Groups

Taking the first four kills before giving away one to Fnatic, Alliance took the lead early. They lost their momentum and Fnatic were able start splitting them with Furion and Mushi’s Shadow Fiend became incredibly strong and farmed, becoming too difficult for the Swedes to handle.

The second match of the series was even for the first 39 minutes before Alliance took the lead and finished with over 35k gold at the end. s4 had a dominant performance on Leshrac and the Swedish team forced out a third deciding game with their victory.

The last match started out really terrible for Alliance. In 13 minutes Fnatic was leading with a 9:1 score and having full map control. Fnatic completely crushed Alliance as they really found their tempo and coordination was on point. Zheng “Miduan” Yeik Na’s Ember Spirit was top notch causing damage and deaths all over the map.

Manila Major Group stage results Group C Decider series:Alliance 1:2 Fnatic. Fnatic advances to upper bracket and Alliance drops to lower bracket

MVP.Phoenix during Manila Major Group stage

The first match of the series it seemed as if EG were outpicked, lacking any stuns in their lineup. Pyo “MP” No-a ‘s Lifestealer was well farmed and had an unorthodox build and EG had to also contend with Alchemist who was also getting really farmed. The Korean team’s draft was on par for the game although they looked behind in the charts until the end, easily taking their win.

The second match featured an Io-Bristle Back draft for MVP.Phoenix, one of their most comfortable strategies. With stand out performances from Lee “FoREV” Sang-don on Bristle Back and perfect games by Kim “QO” Seon-yeop on Slardar and Pyo “MP” No-a on Bat Rider the Korean team overpowered and ran through the TI5 championship team in only 17 minutes.

Manila Major Group stage results Group D Decider series: EG 0:2 MVP.Phoenix. MVP.Phoenix advances to upper bracket and Evil Geniuses drops to lower bracket

Manila Major Group Stage

The Manila Major group stage took place over the course of two days, between June 3rd -4th. Played in a classic GSL format, the group stage determined the Upper and Lower Bracket seeding of the teams for the double-elimination main event. Just like in TI5’s case, no public access will be permitted during the Manila Major group stage.

Manila Major Group Stage participating teams

Manila Major Groups

Manila Major Group Stage: Group A

• OG
• Team Empire
• Newbee
• compLexity Gaming

Manila Major Group Stage: Group B

• Wings Gaming
• Digital Chaos
• Team Secret
• Na’Vi

Manila Major Group Stage: Group C

• Team Liquid
• Alliance
• ViCi Gaming.Reborn
• Fnatic

Manila Major Group Stage: Group D

• Evil Geniuses
• Mineski
• MVP.Phoenix
• LGD Gaming

Manila Major Group Stage format

• The Manila Major group stage played in a classic GSL format.
• The 16 participating teams split up into four groups of four.

  In each group, the teams played a total of five best-of-three matches, as shown below:

  Match #1: Team A vs. Team B
  Match #2: Team C vs. Team D
  Winners’ match (WM): Winner of Match #1 vs. winner of Match #2 – winner advances to the Upper Bracket
  Losers’ match (EM): Loser of Match #1 vs. loser of Match #2 – loser drops to the Lower Bracket
  Decider match: Loser of WM vs. winner of EM – winner advances to the Upper Bracket and loser drops to Lower Bracket

• The Manila Major Group Stage determined the seeding for the Manila Major main event.
• Eight teams were seeded into the main event Upper Brackets, while the remaining eight will start the main event in the Lower Brackets.
• No teams was eliminated in the group stage.