ESL One Frankfurt 2016 group stage: Na’Vi and Team Liquid triumph

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 group stage finished today with the six remaining teams competing for the two last playoff spots. Team Liquid and Na’Vi have progressed to the playoffs. Fnatic, Virtus.Pro, Alliance and compLexity Gaming have been eliminated. The action resumes tomorrow, June 19th at 10:30 CEST with the playoffs semi finals between Vega and Na’Vi.

ESL One Frankfurt Group stage finished up today on the main stage in front of packed house of fans, amidst a day of festivities on the main stage.

All teams played with their full rosters today – Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin from Virtus.Pro arrived in Germany yesterday and Adrian “FATA-“ Trinks from Team Liquid had recovered from his illness.

Team Liquid continued to dazzle fans with their performances and a flawless journey through the lower brackets – wiping out Fnatic and then Alliance 2:0. Only one week after taking second place at the Manila Major, the European team will re-face OG in the playoff semi finals elimination series.

Na’Vi has sustained their overall success – dropping Virtus.Pro 2:1 and then overwhelming compLexity 2:0.

The playoffs are set to take place between four teams – OG,Vega, Team Liquid and Na’Vi on the main stage at Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt tomorrow.

ESL One Frankfurt Group stage Elimination and Decider series

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage: Group A elimination series -Team Liquid vs Fnatic

Jerax Team Liquid EPICENTER Moscow

The first game Team Liquid picked up an Earth Spirit for Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka as well as a Riki and an Alchemist on mid for FATA-. Fnatic went with their medusa and the Juggernaut for Zheng “Miduan” Yeik Nai. The European team had control from the gates until the end.

The second match saw the infamous Riki – Lifestealer combo coming out from Team Liquid. Fnatic’s lineup was lacking against Team Liquid as they had mostly short range melee heroes. Despite an even start and Fnatic having a good fight and Roshan earlier on, Team Liquid turned things around with a great team fight shortly after and seized the momentum. Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen had an incredible game going 17:1:11 on Lifestealer. A perfect five man chrono would end the game and give Team Liquid the full series.

© DotaBuff

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage results: Team Liquid Gaming 2:0 Fnatic. Team Liquid advance to the decider series, while Fnatic have been eliminated.

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage: Group A elimination series – Na’Vi vs Virtus.Pro

Na’Vi during Manila Major Group Stage

The first game started out with the popular Riki-Lifestealer combo for Virtus.Pro with Na’Vi taking the Juggernaut for Danil “Dendi” Ishutin. VP came out strong taking control of the laning stage and early game but a few good games for Na’Vi would pull the team full swing ahead and by minute 29 they were just snowballing to the end. Dendi’s juggernaut was powerful with a 17:3:11 score by the end. Na’Vi easily took the first game of the series.

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The second match started out immediate at the first second with a team fight. A game that was filled with back and forth action and leads for the first 24 minutes would end only 10 minutes later with a significant advantage from VP. An intense smoke on smoke fight that lasted nearly 3 minutes would end the game putting VP as the victors to tie up the series 1:1. Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin’s Slark was perfect, ending with a 14:0:15 score.

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The last game Na’Vi Chose Invoker for Dendi and Virtus.Pro went with a Magnus Mid for Sergey Alexandrovich “G” Bragin – a hero which he played extremely well and ended with a 12:2:12 record. VP had taken the early lead in the game but Na’Vi seized it from them around 22 minutes in during a great fight at Roshan. Taking a considerable lead, Na’Vi almost lost it around minute 36 but regained their momentum and cool to close out the match. Their victory gave them the series and another chance to aim for the playoffs.

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ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage results: Na’Vi 2:1 Virtus.Pro. Na’Vi advance to the decider series, while Virtus.Pro have been eliminated.

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage: Group A decider match – Team Liquid vs Alliance

Team Liquid at Manila Major

Game one took 50 minutes to determine a winner. Both MATUMBAMA on Slark and FATA- on Timbersaw had amazing games going 14:4:8 and 15:4:14 respectively. While Alliance had a slight lead until around minute 26, the European squad seized control and would not let it go for the rest of the game.

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The second game saw the ever popular Timbersaw for Team Liquid while Alliance went with a Drow strategy and Nature’s Prophet for Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg. Team Liquid wasted no time in establishing their control and dominance – which they retained for the entire match. With FATA- on the Timbersaw on mid and Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov’s VOID, the Europeans were in top form and coordination. Their victory sealed the series for them and knocked the Swedes out of contention.

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ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage results: Team Liquid 2:0 Alliance. Team Liquid advance to the playoffs, while Alliance are eliminated.

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage: Group B decider match – Na’Vi vs compLexity

The first game was played out over 51 minutes of time. With a very close game and back and forth swings the match was intense. Around 25 minutes in Na’Vi were able to secure a slight lead and continue to hold on to it and further it for the next 25 minutes. Dendi’s Timbersaw was fantastic, giving the legendary veteran player a few chances to shine. The CIS team clinched the first game of the series.

© DotaBuff

The second game was heavily one sided in favor of Na’Vi. compLexity seemed to be out-drafted, not having any reliable stun or a good way to deal with Lycan. In only 23 minutes the CIS team was able to claim the victory of the game and the series with a 2:0 wipe. Dmitry “Ditya Ra” Minenkov had a flawless game on Lycan with a 7:0:15 score while the rest of the team had exceptional plays and performances.

© DotaBuff

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Group stage results: Na’Vi 2:0 compLexity Gaming. Na’Vi advance to the playoffs, while compLexity are eliminated.

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Groups

*Virtus.Pro have replaced LGD Gaming. The Chinese team was allegedly forced to withdraw from ESL One Frankfurt 2016 due to health reasons.

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 Schedule

ESL One Frankfurt 2016 – Sunday, June 19th

• 10:30 CEST – Semifinal #1 – Na’Vi vs Vega
• 13:45 CEST – Semifinal #2 – Team Liquid vs OG
• 17:45 CEST – Grand Finals