ESL One Manila group B: Fnatic hasten to the playoffs

ESL One Manila group B kicked off with the biggest upset which no one predicted and entire series of matches won over in sweeps across the board. Fnatic has advanced to the upper brackets. Team Secret, EHOME and Team Empire will fight it out for the second spot in the main event.

The action continues tomorrow, at 08:00 CEST, with the elimination series between Team Secret and EHOME, followed by the Group B decider match.

In a shocking twist of events, Team Empire easily wiped out Team Secret to lay claim to the upper brackets.

Team Empire had a spectacular showing with incredible execution and cohesive coordination.

Team Secret seemed to struggle more in finding their synergy, and their communication appeared to be off.

Fnatic continued their dominating streak, convincingly taking down EHOME in a full sweep, without seeming to break much of a sweat.

They continued to take on the new Team Empire roster that had just done the unthinkable – knocking down Team Secret’s star-studded roster with a stand out performance.

The two winning teams locked horns in the last series of the day. Fnatic didn’t hold back and extended their fierce domination over opponents.

The Malaysian team continued to prove they have indeed found their groove, as they rolled over the CIS team.

ESL One Manila group B: Group Phase

Team Secret vs. Empire

Team Secret took Naga Siren and Nyx Assassin in the first match, but Team Empire clinched the first kill on the bottom lane. They seemed to be reading Team Secret’s strategy really well and had fantastic coordination and rotations. Quick with the responses, the CIS team was able to stay one step ahead and hold tight to the control and lead. They convincingly took the first game.

In the second game, Team Secret started out a bit stronger, but they quickly began to lose their grip on it with great plays coming out from Team Empire. They had great map control and pick offs and made sure that Team Secret had no room to make any impact. In a full sweep, the newly rebuilt CIS team knocked Team Secret to the lower brackets.

ESL One Manila group B: Team Secret 0:2 Team Empire. Team Secret drop to the lower brackets of the group phase.

EHOME vs. Fnatic

With little difficulty, Fnatic continued on their dominating streak and pushed hard and quick through EHOME. A cheeky Roshan and Aegis steal wasn’t enough for EHOME to make any impact and take out Fnatic.

In the second game, EHOME was sure to come out strong, securing the first two kills. Fnatic started to pick up the pieces and take control of the map and game, leaving EHOME to struggle. With steady and consistent plays and coordination, Fnatic swept through EHOME, 2:0.

This is insane! @FNATIC's doing quick work against @EHOMECN! #ESLOnehttps://t.co/1lH8i66xMe

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 22, 2016

ESL One Manila group B: EHOME 0:2 Fnatic. EHOME drop to the lower bracket of the group phase.

ESL One Manila group B: Winners’ Match

Team Empire vs. Fnatic

The tempo went back and forth between these two teams. In the mid-late game, Fnatic started to just pull ahead and swing the lead and advantage into their favor. On the back of great initiations and strong push power, Fnatic outplayed the CIS team. At around minute 34, Team Empire were in a tight position being 15K behind in gold and Fnatic sought the base. Suddenly, Empire somehow managed to defend their barracks and take down some of Fnatic’s racks in a thrilling change of pace. A valiant effort, it wasn’t enough to change the course of the match and Fnatic closed out the first match with a win.

The second game started relatively even, with back and forth trades and leads between the teams, early on. Fnatic started to advance in the early-mid game, but their lead was contested by Team Empire often and the Malaysian squad worked to keep their pace. After over one hour of play, Fnatic clinched the series and playoff spot.

This @team_empire base defence though! How on earth did they take rax from this!? #ESLOne https://t.co/RUTJQiyOsPhttps://t.co/9LaW0u5snC

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 22, 2016

ESL One Manila group B: Team Empire 0:2 Fnatic. Fnatic continues to the playoffs. Team Empire goes on to the 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 B

• Team Secret
• Team Empire
• Fnatic
• EHOME

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.