ESL One Manila group A: Team Liquid secures playoff spot

ESL One Manila group A kicked off with some impressive and surprising matches. Team Liquid has advanced to the playoffs. Wings Gaming, compLexity and Mineski will fight it out for the second group spot in the main event.

The action continues tomorrow, at 05:00 CEST, with the elimination series between Mineski and compLexity Gaming, followed by the Group A decider match.

Team Liquid are your Top Seed for Group A. They secure a slot in the Semi-Finals. #ESLOneManila

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) April 22, 2016

Wings Gaming had an impressive start to the event. Upsetting compLexity for their place in the upper brackets, they proved they are a dark horse that should not be underestimated.

Team Liquid convincingly took their place in the upper brackets with a clean sweep through the local heroes, Mineski.

With no surprise, the European mix continued to demonstrate their drive for results with an intense show of force.

When Wings and Team Liquid came face to face, the matches were intense and thrilling until the end.

Team Liquid managed to keep one step ahead and outlast the Chinese team to take the high road into the playoffs.

ESL One Manila group A: Group Phase

Mineski vs. Team Liquid

Team Liquid destroyed Mineski in the first match of the series. For the second game, the local team gave Adrian “FATA-“ Trinks his signature Puck and a Spectre to Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, which proved to be their demise. Although Mineski showed some good skill and a valiant attempt to turn things at the Rosh Pit, they seemed under-prepared to take on Team Liquid’s heroes and playstyle.

A great start for @teamliquidpro as they demolish @MineskiProTeam and claim the first game! https://t.co/TbJlIcmyQdhttps://t.co/9KiACqTyBO

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 22, 2016

ESL One Manila group A: Mineski 0:2 Team Liquid. Mineski drop to the lower brackets of the group phase.

compLexity Gaming vs. Wings Gaming

compLexity Gaming came back after Wings Gaming’a strong and promising start in the first match. In the second match, the game started fairly even, but compLexity pulled ahead around the mid game until Chu “Shadow” Zeyu’s Alchemist started to get out of control. Wings turned the game to their favor and started to ride high on their new momentum, taking barracks and kills with ease. Securing the second game, they pushed for a deciding third game. The third game was a close race. A fantastic team wipe on compLexity highlighted some of Wings Gaming’s potential and talent and gave them the edge to upset the NA team and take the third game.

Wings came in with a 5 man wipe against Complexity!https://t.co/W42z1y1IcZ

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 22, 2016

ESL One Manila group A: compLexity Gaming 1:2 Wings Gaming. compLexity drop to the lower brackets of the group phase.

ESL One Manila group A: Winners’ Match

Team Liquid vs. Wings Gaming

Team Liquid started out by banning Bounty Hunter and Invoker, both key heroes for Wings Gaming as seen earlier today. In a dominant start, Team Liquid secured level 1 Roshan and three kills by three minutes into the game. Wings Gaming didn’t let that intimidate them and continued to play very smooth and well coordinated Dota, holding their own. After 65 minutes, Team Liquid was able to finally clinch the game.

The second game continued to be filled with intensity and nail-biting fights. Team Liquid always farmed very quickly and efficiently, always coming out ahead with their items. The European team slid into the enemy barracks and was able to take the game and series.

That's one way for @TeamLiquidDota2 to claw themselves back in the game! #ESLOne https://t.co/RUTJQiyOsPhttps://t.co/UirLwtSo5p

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 22, 2016

ESL One Manila group A: Team Liquid 2:0 Wings Gaming. Team Liquid continues to the playoffs. Wings Gaming goes on to decider match.

ESL One Manila groups

The ESL One Manila groups have been drawn. Two groups of four will compete in the first phase of the event. Only four teams will make it into the playoffs.

Group A

• Team Liquid
• compLexity
• Wings
• Mineski

ESL One Manila schedule:

All matches will be played back-to-back.

Friday, April 22nd (closed to the public)

• 05:00 CEST – Team Liquid vs. Mineski
• 05:00 CEST – compLexity vs. Wings
• 08:00 CEST – Team Secret vs. Team Empire
• 08:00 CEST – EHOME vs. Fnatic
• 11:00 CEST – Group A winners’ match
• 14:00 CEST – Group B winners’ match

Saturday, April 23rd

• 05:00 CEST – Group A elimination match
• 08:00 CEST – Group B elimination match
• 11:30 CEST – Group A decider match
• 14:30 CEST – Group B decider match

Sunday, April 24th

• 05:00 CEST – Semifinal two (Group B seed one vs. Group A seed two)
• 08:30 CEST – Semifinal one (Group B seed two vs. Group A seed one)
• 12:00 CEST – Grand finals

ESL One Manila format

• The group stage will be played in a classic GSL format.
• The eight participating teams will be split up into two groups of four.

  In each group, the teams will play best-of-three matches, as shown below:

  Match one: Team A vs. Team B
  Match two: Team C vs. Team D
  Winners’ match (WM): Winner of match one vs. winner of match two – winner advances to semifinals
  Elimination match (EM): Loser of match one vs. loser of match two – loser drops out
  Decider match: Loser of WM vs. winner of EM – winner advances to semifinals and loser drops out

• Four teams will advance into the playoffs.
• Four teams will be eliminated in the group stage.
• During the playoffs, four teams will play a single-elimination bracket.
• The Grand Finals will be best-of-five series, with no winners’ advantage.