Photo courtesy of BonnieElvira
The first day of DAC 2018 Major has come to an end with a few surprising turn of events sprinkled through an otherwise expected run through.
The day was long and full of Dota 2 games as all 16 teams faced off in the lobby. DAC 2018 Major got into full swing as 16 best-of-one matches unfolded over the course of 9 hours. Some teams came out of the gate swinging, looking to get a head start on a prime place in the group stage. Others ended on a level laying field, using the first day as an exploratory phase or warm up. Other teams hit a snag, leaving themselves with an uphill battle and some uncertainty in their strategic plans. It's still early enough to become anyone's event as all teams will continue to forge their eventual main event placements in the heated group stage battles still to come.
Group A
The most surprising results seem to have fallen in Group A. OpTic Gaming came out ahead in a huge way, ending the day as the only team to be undefeated in the group so far. The North American team already have bested TnC and Newbee to put an impressive notch in their belts. On the contrary, Newbee's results were the most shocking on the other extreme. The Chinese titans were unable to clinch a single victory, falling not only to OpTiC but also to their Chinese brethren —Vici Gaming. Newbee will need to head back to the drawing board and retool their strategy if they hope to reclaim their playoff form. They were the only team in the group to fall into a negative record. All of the other teams, including the TI7 champions, Team Liquid, drew an even score of 1:1 to round out the first day.
Group B
Group B was considered the Group of Death by many, with several fierce contenders locking horns. The group seems to be pretty polarizing, with only VGJ.Thunder and Evil Geniuses splitting their matches in a 1:1 record. Unsurprising to many, Virtus.pro continue to top the charts, cruising through undefeated in their first two matches. Mineski and Team Secret both enjoyed perfect runs through the first day as well in some pretty heavily one-sided matchups. Invictus Gaming, Effect Gaming and paiN Gaming all fell to the bottom of the group without claiming a single win. The three teams will need to scrap out some wins to avoid an early departure from the event.
The group stage will take place from the 29th until April 3rd, followed immediately by the Main Event taking place from the 4th through the 7th.
Group Stage
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Sixteen teams play in a Bo1 round robin.
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Top two teams from each group advance to the Playoffs of Main Event.
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Bottom two teams from each group eliminated.
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Teams placing 3-6th head to breakout phase.
The group stage resumes tomorrow, March 30th at 12:00 local time/06:00 CEST with the series A2 and B2. OG will take on OpTic Gaming as VGJ.Thunder locks horns with paiN gaming to kick things off in each group.
