Shopify Rebellion survive elimination tiebreaker scare, Bali Major Group A done and dusted

Bali Major, the last major on the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit schedule is approaching the playoffs stage and surprises, both good and bad, are pouring in.

Group A concluded with terrible news for the host region, Southeast Asia, as both teams seeded here failed to make it to the playoffs stage. This marks the third major in a row this year when Execration, got eliminated in the groups, with no chance at adding precious DPC points to their name and secure a direct invite to The International 2023.

Unfortunately, Blacklist International, who in the summer tour placed second in the SEA Regional League Division I, were also unable to secure a playoff presence at the Bali Major and along with Execration will have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for TI regional qualifiers.

Blacklist International came really close to avoiding elimination by landing their first and only 2-0 victory on the last day of the group play. They took down Invictus Gaming in a convincing fashion, thus forcing a tiebreaker with Shopify Rebellion with elimination on the line.

Blacklist InternationalvsShopify Rebellion

What started with a true stomp from Shopify, who swarmed the SEA representative with a carry Lycan and an offlane Broodmother, was easily turned around by a flawless Naga Siren carry execution from Blacklist in game two. The only lead Shopify had in that game lasted for the first 5 minutes of the game, when the NA team scored 3 kills, which was half of their total at the end of the game. With nearly a free lane at his disposal, Marc "Raven" Fausto took full control of the map on his Naga Siren and gave his team one more chance to fight for staying alive in the tournament.

However, in the third game draft, Shopify were able to secure the Lycan once again and they did in the first pick phase, pairing it with Ember Spirit and Mars in the core positions for another quick paced, snowballing out of control type of match. With all three cores dominating their lanes, Shopify didn’t drop the ball anymore and managed to reach the playoffs, but from here on, each series will be with elimination on the line as they will keep fighting through lower bracket rounds.

The top four teams from each group will continue their Bali Major adventure from the upper bracket. Team Liquid took the top seed in Group A and had the advantage of choosing their first adversaries for the playoffs between Gaimin Gladiators and PSG.LGD, who placed third and fourth respectively, in Group B. They picked PSG.LGD and will open the playoffs on Wednesday, 5th of July at 10:00 am SGT/ 04:00 CEST.

Until then, stay tuned, for more news from Bali Major, the last pit stop before The International 2023!

^{headline picture courtesy of Shopify Rebellion via Twitter}