The Esportal Dota 2 League playoffs kick off tomorrow and continue through July 5th. Virtus.Pro, Team Empire, Vega Squadron and 4 Anchors and Sea Captain are the four teams that managed to advance from the group stage. The first game is scheduled for July 2nd, at 17:00 CEST, between Virtus.Pro and 4ASC.
Over the course of seven months, eight teams have qualified through either invitational qualifiers or open qualifiers: Team Empire, mYinsenity, Virtus.Pro, Power Rangers*, HellRaisers, 4 Clovers and Lepricon, 4 Anchors and Sea Captain, and Vega Squadron. After a double elimination group stage played over the course of five days, the top two teams from each group – VP and Vega from Group A, and Empire and 4ASC from Group B – have advanced to the double elimination playoffs.
*Ninjas in Pyjamas announced their last minute withdrawal from the Esportal Dota 2 League finals. They were replaced by Power Rangers – the runners-up in three of the qualifiers.
Esportal Dota 2 League playoffs brackets and schedule
The last phase of the tournament will take place between July 2-5. All matches will be best-of-three series, except for the Grand Finals, which will be best-of-five.
Esportal Dota 2 League broadcast
Coverage will be provided by Beyond the Summit on the Esportal dedicated channel.
Esportal Dota 2 League prize pool
- 1st place: $32,000
- 2nd place: $16,000
- 3rd place: $4,800
- 4th place: $4,800
- 5th place: $1,600
- 6th place: $1,600
Esportal Dota 2 League teams
Virtus.Pro
Virtus.Pro holding the DreamLeague Season 3 trophy. Credits: Adela “Mawrr” Sznajder/ Dreamhack
In the last year, Virtus.Pro’s roster has shifted significantly and many changes have occurred within the organization. With the current lineup, the team has been displaying stellar performances and are quickly rising to the top of fan favorites for TI5.
After taking first place at the ASUS Play it Cool invitational, the team had a sub-par performace at the MLG Pro League Finals, at X-Games, earlier this month, but then came back to claim the championship title in the DreamLeague Season 3 LAN finals.
Most recently, they swept through all of their opponents in the seeding phase for ESL One Frankfurt and secured the first place, thus taking the first choice in selecting an opponent for the first round of the main event. Virtus.Pro was later defeated by Evil Geniuses in the semifinals of the ESL One Frankfurt main event.
Virtus.Pro topped their group during the Esportal Dota 2 League group stage, after sweeping mYinsanity, 2:0, and Vega Squadron, 2:0, in the Upper Brackets.
Virtus.Pro roster
Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev
Sergey “God” Bragin
Alexander “DkPhobos” Kucheria
Artem “fng” Barshak
Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk
Team Empire
Team Empire
Team Empire have been displaying topmost performances, placing in the top three in all major tournaments they have participated in since October 2014. They are currently attending their second bootcamp in recent months and are one of the top favorites for TI5.
The Russian team won the MLG Championships, in April, and the D2CL Season 5, in May.
Team Empire were supposed to attend the MLG Pro League LAN finals, in Texas, Austin, but announced their last minute withdrawal, due to visa issues. Most recently, they finished second in the MarsTV Dota 2 League, after being bested by Team Secret, 3:1, in the Grand Finals.
Team Empire won their group in the Esportal Dota 2 League, after two 2:0 series versus 4 Clovers & Lepricon and 4 Anchors and Sea Captain.
Team Empire roster
Airat “Silent” Gaziev
Roman “Resolut1on” Fominok
Maxim “yoky” Kim
Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin
Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko
Vega Squadron
Mag, Vega Squadron
Vega Squadron underwent roster changes in mid March. Their latest roster change was the addition of Aleksey “Solo” Berezin and Andrey “Mag” Chipenko, in April.
They have since been carving a spot as a notable CIS team. They recently claimed a Wild Card slot for TI5, won the Yard Festival, in May, and qualified for the last spot in the Esportal Dota 2 League finals.
They were also able to secure the last spot for the MLG Pro League finals at X-games, in Texas, but had to withdraw from the competition due to lack of enough time to obtain visas. They also had to decline replacing Team Empire at DreamLeague Season 3 LAN finals, for the same reason.
Most recently, the team placed first in the Mountain Trail Challenge.
Esportal Group A runners-up, Vega defeated Power Rangers, 2:1, and mYinsanity, 2:0, and lost their series against VP, 2:0. They will face Team Empire in the playoffs, on July 3rd, at 17:00 CEST.
Vega Squadron roster
Semen “Cema” Krivulya
Pavel “9pashaebashu” Khvastunov
Vladimir “no[o]ne” Minenko
Andrey “Mag” Chipenko
Aleksey “Solo” Berezin
4 Anchors and Sea Captain
Trixi, 4 Anchors and Sea Captain. Credits: Andrew Bell
4 Anchors and Sea Captain is an unsponsored Finnish team formed in September 2014. They have taken first and second places in several tournaments, such as EIZO Cup, Hitbox EU Championship, and Yard Festival.
They had a surprising performance in the TI5 European qualifiers, where they advanced through to the Lower Bracket finals before being eliminated by Na’Vi, 2:1.
4ASC finished second in their Esportal group, after taking down HellRaisers, 2:1, and 4CL, 2:1, and losing to Team Empire, 2:0. They will face Virtus.Pro tomorrow, July 2nd, at 17:00 CEST, in the first series of the Esportal Dota 2 League playoffs.
4 Anchors and Sea Captain roster
Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen
Sampsa “nemphy” Kutvonen
Kalle “Trixi” Saarinen
Mikko “Vaalix” Ristimäki
Riku “Buugi” Fält
Featured image: Helena Kristiansson/ ESL
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