Photo courtesy of PerfectWorld
The first day of the group stage at the China Supermajor is over and the teams in Groups A and B have a clear, and for some - difficult, path for their journey in the main event.
The last DPC event of the season is already underway and half of the teams have already plotted out their course for the China Dota 2 Supermajor main event. As expected, Virtus.pro and Team Liquid had dominant starts, assuming the first seed in their respective groups and securing their place in the upper brackets.
Evil Geniuses and Natus Vincere, unfortunately, were not able to find themselves a single game victory in the day and both dropped not only into the last place of their groups but into the lower brackets of the main event. Although both teams have historically been able to climb their way out or see commendable results after rough starts, neither of these revamped rosters have been able to tap into that magic as of late.
| Group A | Group B |
 Team Liquid |  Virtus.pro |
 Newbee | Vici Gaming |
 Natus Vincere |  Evil Geniuses |
| Team Spirit |  TNC Pro Team |
Group A
Newbee was probably the team with the biggest question mark on them heading into the China Supermajor. With recent struggles and subpar results, it was not entirely known how the TI7 runner-up team would ultimately fair. As expected, they dropped the series to Team Liquid and swept through Na'vi but were able to outlast and outplay Team Spirit 2:1 to find themselves in the upper brackets for the main event.
Team Spirit continues to show an enormous amount of promise and potential heading into the TI8 qualifier phase. The CIS team seems to evolve each appearance and take games off even the biggest giants. Today's performances showcased beautiful execution, good discipline and the ability to not overcommit.
Group B
All eyes were on the new Evil Geniuses roster as the North American's new lineup made their debut. Without much time to prepare as a squad, the hype of the caliber of members weighed heavily on the fan's expectations and turned out a disappointing result. The team was unable to find themselves a single victory by the end of the day. Vici Gaming found two heavily one-sided wins against them, but EG put up one heck of a fight in the series against TNC Pro Team, pushing both games to about the hour limit before losing it all.
TNC came ready to compete and build some momentum and confidence heading into the TI8 qualifiers that follow after the China Supermajor. Losing their first series against the unstoppable Virtus.pro - in which they did manage to take one game off them and push the CIS team to the edge, they came back with some fantastic drafts, incredible itemizations and dazzling plays in their next two series against EG and ViCi Gaming to secure the second seed in the group.
China Supermajor Group Stage Format:
- Four groups of four teams each.
- Bo3 double-elimination (GSL) bracket.
- Top two teams from each group advance to the Upper Bracket of Main Event.
- Bottom two teams from each group advance to the Lower Bracket of Main Event.
The action resumes tomorrow at 10:00 local time/04:00 CEST with Groups C and D will be played in their entirety, determining which teams will take the high road and which will take the brutal path.
