With the first elimination out the way at M3, things were only just getting started, as there would be three more teams losing their tournament lives today.
headline photo courtesy of MLBB Esports
Next up fighting would be the Brazilian squad of Keyd Stars, or Vivo Keyd, who surprised everyone as they took down Onic Esports in the group stage. However, without any other wins in their group, they entered the lower bracket. Today they would need to take down GX Squad, the M3 Arabia qualifiers, who were unable to find a victory in their group stage games, now hoping to secure a massive victory and remain in the M3 World Championships.
Going into the first game of the series, we saw some interesting picks from GX Squad, with a Kaja, Alucard and Estes from the Saudi Arabians. However, even though managing to take away the first two Turtles of the game, Keyd were just far too strong, as Kiing’s Ling ran rings around them, giving the Brazilians an easy first win. Although GX played a much better game two, their early game still needed a lot of work, as the Brazilians managed to control the game and hold off in the late game challenge. Unfortunately for GX, as they fell to another 12-minute defeat, their M3 World Championship run would come to an end.
Following a short break, it was time for the next series, which would see the Latin American qualifiers and the CIS qualifiers going head-to-head, as Malvinas Gaming and Natus Vincere hoped to continue forward at the event. While both teams showed some promise in their respective groups, they were unable to make a real impact when it came down to it, and the lower bracket would be where they would need to make their stand.
It was a fantastic first game of the series, as both teams threw everything that they had at one another, clearly not wanting to give up the first loss. It came down to one late game fight around Lord, as NaVi found the perfect pickup to push their opponents back into their base and eventually grab the first win. However, Malvinas were not just down and out just yet, as game two was far better from them, as they shut the CIS squad out across the board. Although NaVi almost secured a turnaround, MVG held on to tie the series.
With the first full series of the lower bracket, with two teams which were almost entirely evenly matched, we were set for a massive game three. While MVG were able to keep up in kills, with some quick pickoffs and smart plays, the Faramis pick from NaVi, along with the insane damage from SunsetLover’s Yi Sun-Shin was eventually too much to contend with.
Sadly, for Malvinas Gaming, the 2-1 loss would mean that they would be the next team to exit the M3 World Championships, while Natus Vincere move forward to fight another day. With only one more elimination series on the cards for today, it was almost time to find out who would be the fourth team eliminated from the event.
