Image courtesy of PGL
PSG.LGD and Ninjas in Pyjamas were both eliminated by Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket of the first Major of the DPC season 2018-2019.
The stakes were higher than ever on the penultimate day of the Kuala Lumpur Major, with the final six teams trying to inch their way forward to the grand finals and get the championship title. The day kicked off with the two BO3 series in the lower brackets that would determine the top three teams of the tournament and the only ones who would survive to play on the day of the grand finals.
PSG.LGD vs Evil Geniuses
After having been sent to the lower bracket by Team Secret yesterday, PSG.LGD, one of the frontrunners to win the whole tournament, had to fight an even longer battle to the finish. However, they were no stranger to the brutal and tense elimination matches.
Facing off against the arguably weaker team, Evil Geniuses, their first hurdle was thought to be a passable one. However, no one was prepared to witness the absolute domination of the American team over the Chinese one, least of all PSG.LGD themselves. They walked all over them in Game 1, thanks in part to Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan's flawless 9-0-10 performance on Mirana.
PSG.LGD remained fearless, drafting completely different heroes in Game 2, which seemed to work at first. Lu "Somnus?M" Yao was snowballing on Tiny, but still couldn't push the series to a third game despite ending with an 18-5-7 score.
With the loss, the journey for the best Chinese team at the moment ended, as Evil Geniuses advanced to the next round of the lower bracket to face off against their former captain.
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Evil Geniuses
Ninjas in Pyjamas had a tough matchup against Virtus.pro in the upper bracket semi-finals, and it was evident after their loss. Evil Geniuses, however, were on a roll, especially after eliminating one of the favorites of the tournament. And yet, no one could have predicted the intense and unbelievably gripping series that was about to follow.
Game 1 and Game 2 averaged out at 1 hour and showcased just how close the skill-cap between the two teams really was. Both had a similar story, NiP gaining a sizeable momentum from the laning stage into the mid-game, with EG turning it around and coming back to overtake them. However, NiP secured the first game while EG managed to do so in the second one, pushing the series to a deciding match.
NiP seemed to not be able to recover from the loss of the second game, as they lost with a rather odd and weak draft. The main focal point of, not just this match but the entire series, was Artour "Arteezy" Babaev's Terrorblade, who played the hero in all three games. Ending with a 19-1-15 score in Game 3, he rightfully deserved the MVP of the series.
Despite using Ivan Borislavov "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov as a stand-in in place of Neta "33" Shapira, NiP secured a 4th place finish at the tournament with $80,000 and 1350 DPC points to boot, something most teams can only dream of.
The Kuala Lumpur Major details:
- Group Stage
- 9 to 10 November 2018
- 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.
- Playoffs
- The playoffs will be held from November 11 to 18.
- Only the final three days will be in front of a live crowd.
- Double-elimination bracket.
- All games except Grand Finals and Lower Bracket Round 1 are Bo3.
- Lower Bracket Round 1 are Bo1
- Grand Finals is Bo5
