Photo courtesy of PerfectWorld
Day 1 of the China Supermajor got into full swing. Team Liquid and Team Secret head to the Upper Bracket while Team Spirit and Team Infamous were eliminated.
The playoffs for the China Supermajor have already written off the first teams and charted out the course for the high road in the last of the DPC events of the season. Although Team Spirit and Team Infamous were not eligible for any points or regional invites, their losses were no doubt still hard to swallow as the season rounds out for them without any significant achievements.
UPPER BRACKETS
Team Liquid vs TNC Predator
Team Liquid showcased flashes of brilliance as TI7 Champions as they made very little, if any mistakes when they swept TNC Pro Team and sent them to the lower bracket. The opening match had Liquid in complete control over the game with Amer “Miracle” Barqawi’s Templar Assassin overpowering Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios’ Ember Spirit in the midlane during the early game. Liquid’s lead of 19-5 by the 11-minute mark was too much for TNC to handle. TNC showed signs of life as they managed to get pickoff after pickoff, thus securing them an Aegis advantage during the mid-game. Despite the advantage, Team Liquid faced TNC heroes head on and went straight to the throne to conclude the game.
In the second game, Liquid meant business as they picked their signature heroes, with Lasse “Matumbaman” Urpaleinen’s Lycan and Miracle’s Juggernaut. Team Liquid made their way to TNC’s high ground with their push-oriented line-up by the 14-minute mark which TNC had no answer for. With Team Liquid’s complete dominance over TNC, the latter raised the white flag 20 minutes into the game. TNC heads into the lower bracket to face VGJ.Storm.
Team Secret vs. OpTic Gaming
With the first game of the series, OpTic Gaming picked an unusual Night Stalker carry for Pelle Olsson “Pajkatt” Lille. A flawless game for Pajkatt controlled the early game which gained them significant map control. Ludwig “Zai” Wåhlberg's support Windranger transitioned into a core hero and became a huge problem for Team Secret, which helped OpTic inch closer to the upper bracket. However, Team Secret managed to reverse sweep OpTic, as the latter had no match against Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard’s talent with his Arc Warden and Gyrocopter. The overall synergy of Team Secret led to efficient execution of their gameplan to siege OpTic’s high ground for games two and three.
With Team Secret’s victory over OpTic, Mineski, Vici Gaming and Newbee secured their TI8 direct invites.
LOWER BRACKETS
Evil Geniuses vs. Team Spirit
The first game started out with Team Spirit taking control until the early-mid game with a score of 19-7. EG, however, remained poised and confident to fight their way through this game. Team Spirit’s lead disparity was erased since their heroes were getting picked off one after another. EG’s patience paid off as they staged a comeback win, as Team Spirit threw the game wide open in favor of EG. In the second game, however, EG struggled to find their footing as they were outplayed by Team Spirit’s prominent aggression and Ilya “IllidanSTR” Pevcaev’s Chaos Knight.
With the last game, neither team refused to give up as the whole contest went to a slugfest. It was a 60 minute game with excessive swings back and forth. As to what could have been a potential game finishing push by Team Spirit, EG pinned their hopes to the classic duo of Andreas “Cr1t” Nielsen and Tal “Fly” Aizik who successfully defended their throne. The buybacks for the cores of EG were unavailable but Cr1t’s Elder Titan was enough to hold their ground and win the match eventually.
EG will need to refine their strategy as they face the already proven and tested OpTic who are in dire need of DPC points. It is a matchup everyone anticipates as former TI champions and teammates Syed “Sumail” Hassan and Peter “ ppd” Dager go head to head in another do-or-die series.
VGJ.Storm vs Team Infamous
The first game could have been easily in the hands of Infamous were it not for Roman “Resolut1on” Fominok’s Faceless Void. Resolut1on’s prowess set the pace and tone of the game with his precise Chronosphere initiations. The second game was a complete stomp with Yawar “Yawar” Hassan’s Templar Assassin setting up the tempo of the team. VGJ.Storm had a huge lead and one massive team fight resulted in Infamous’ falling out of contention. Without any hesitation, VGJ.Storm went straight to the throne to conclude their victory. VGJ.Storm was too much for the South American squad, who claimed no wins in the series.
Team Infamous went a dismal 0-19 during the DPC tournaments. With the upcoming TI8 qualifiers, they need to rethink their strategies in order to catch up with the other teams.
VGJ.Storm will face off TNC in a matchup between two of the most stable and consistent carries with Resolution and Marco Polo “Raven” Fausto.
Day 2 of the playoffs will continue tomorrow, June 5 at 10:00 local time/04:00 CEST with the remaining Upper Brackets Round 1 series.
