Group Stage: Review

At the end of the fourth day of the Dota 2 PGL Bucharest Major, eight teams have qualified for the playoffs. During the group stage, each team played five matches with the teams having the most wins qualifying for the next round.

However, during the last day of the group stage, few more teams have bitten the dust and have been sent home packing. Na`Vi, Complexity, and OG were shown the exit door with a 2-3 record as they lost the playoff decider match against their opponents. Their opponents, however, were lucky and qualified for the playoffs with a 3-2 scoreline.

GGwp @OpTicGaming. They got the better of us today and our #TheBucharestMajor run comes to an end. Regardless of the result, our boys had some great performances and put up a strong fight. Thanks to everyone for the support, it wouldn't be possible without it! #coLDota pic.twitter.com/SQJIr38erd — compLexity Gaming (@compLexity) March 7, 2018

Not even making it to the fifth round were teams including Vici Gaming, Pain Gaming and Mineski who only had one win to their name. On the other hand, Newbee, Virtus.Pro and Team Secret who only had one loss, managed to qualify for playoffs.

PGL Playoff Qualified Teams:

• Evil Geniuses

• VGJ.Thunder

• Newbee

• Virtus.pro

• Team Liquid

• Team Secret

• OpTic Gaming

• TnC

PGL Groupstage Final Standings

The biggest setbacks came when teams like Na`Vi, OG, Vici Gaming and Complexity were beaten by their opponents.

OG’s hard luck struck as they faced the TI7 champions in the decider match. It was too much to handle for the Green Team. Complexity was up against Optic Gaming, and the rivalry between Kyle “melonzz” Freedman and Peter “ppd” Dager continued with the latter having the edge once again.

Na`Vi’s new and improved lineup faced up against SEA giants TnC. The result was obvious as TnC got hold of the match right from the start, forcing Na’Vi to pack their bags home.

The rest day will be followed by the quarterfinal matches with VGJ.T and TnC facing each other in the single elimination BO3 matchup. Next, Newbee will take on Secret, while EG and Virtus.Pro will fight against Team Liquid and Optic Gaming respectively.

Groupstage: Day 4

The fourth day at the PGL Bucharest Major 2018 unveils today but the results have already started coming in.

Yesterday, many decider matches were played that decided the fate of the high seeds at the event alongside those who will be ending their run at this Dota 2 Major.

Discussed yesterday were the matches between top seeds Newbee, EG, TNC and VGJ who had to win just one more game to make it to the playoffs. Vici Gaming, Vega, LFY and Mineski were among the teams who couldn’t lose a single game if they wanted to stay in the event.

At the end of the day three, many of results were finalized and sadly LGD.FY and Vega Squadron are out of the event. Both teams had already lost the initial two matches in the group stage. Only a 2-3 score would be the only possibility to make it to the playoffs. However, this wasn’t the case for LGD.FY and Vega who lost to their respective opponents Vici Gaming and Mineski have bowed out.

We fought nerves, food poisoning, inexperience–but at long last we held our own. GGWP to @MineskiProTeam! The @VegaSquadron journey in Bucharest ends, but the one to TI8 has only just begun. — Muriëlle ''Kips'' Huisman (@Kipspul) March 6, 2018

The teams that managed to stay alive in a fiercely contested tournament were Mineski and Vici Gaming who were also on a 2-0 scoreline on day three.

The two, however, have joined the ranks of OG, Team Liquid, Pain Gaming and Na`Vi who currently sit on a 1-2 score and any loss will be enough to end their run in the tournament.

Moving forward are Newbee, TnC, Team Secret, Optic Gaming, Virtus.Pro and Complexity who sit with a 2-1 score and would only need just another win to qualify for the playoffs. However, not all will make it through since these teams will be facing off each other to improve their standings.

The current leaders, VGJ.Thunder and Evil Geniuses have not lost a single game and put up a good show at the event. On day three, VGJ had to face off against TnC, a matchup that VGJ were confident to win.

Evil Geniuses were up against Newbee, but their early aggression and timed battles were too much for Newbee to handle and they tapped out under 25 minutes.

With this win, EG and VGJ have already qualified for the playoffs and will have a good two-day rest before the qualifiers start.

Our 3-0 record gets us a two-day break from #BucharestMajor action! We're running a giveaway with @AMDGaming for a Ryzen prize pack and custom EG jersey! Enter here (US only): https://t.co/1T7vvqEvKo pic.twitter.com/BR0thykpQQ — Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) March 7, 2018

Standings

Day 4: Matches

The matches scheduled for today are as follows:

• Newbee Vs Complexity

• TnC Vs Virtus.pro

• Team Secret Vs Optic Gaming

• OG Vs Mineski

• Team Liquid Vs Vici Gaming

• Pain Gaming Vs Na`Vi

Groupstage: Day 3

The third day at the PGL Major 2018 is underway. The fans are excited about amazing games amongst the top-tier teams in the world.

During the first two days of the series, we saw some big names crumble against the underdogs while some low ranked teams were cruising up on the leaderboard.

The 16 teams attending the event will play in the five-round Swiss format. After that, the top 8 teams will qualify for the playoffs. Surprisingly, the underdogs are giving the top teams a tough time during the tournament.

Teams to suffer the most at the PGL Major 2018 – till now – include Vici Gaming, Vega Squadron, LGD.FY and Mineski. The four teams lost both of their matches on the first and second day. While there are still three matches left to play, these four teams will have to win all of them if they want to see themselves playing in the playoffs.

Eight teams are currently in the middle of the leaderboard, as they have won one, and lost one match. The important thing to note here is that there will be a lot of ties between teams. Hence, getting the most out of the matches is what will make some outshine others.

Team Secret, Team Liquid are among the teams with a 1-1 scoreline standing side by side with Optic Gaming, Complexity, Na`Vi, Virtus.pro, Pain Gaming, and OG.

We drop our bo1 match against @Team_VGJ, GGWP!

We will be back tomorrow for Round 3 of groups. #SecretFighting pic.twitter.com/k6UQaYkRgK — Team Secret (@teamsecret) March 5, 2018

GGWP Evil Geniuses. An absolutely crazy game from start to finish, but will we see the same tomorrow? #LetsGoLiquid pic.twitter.com/AToRBPGocN — Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) March 5, 2018

The clear winners of the group stage as of now are Evil Geniuses, Newbee, TnC, and VGJ.Thunder who have won both their matches and wait to face off each other, today.

Apart from Newbee, neither of the teams were expected to play this good. Evil Geniuses outplayed Team Liquid in the process while VGJ.Thunder defeated Team Secret. TnC took out SEA’s powerhouse Mineski and Optic Gaming.

Well, we always seem to make entertaining comebacks. — Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) March 5, 2018

After two days, the stakes are even higher, and more intense games are expected as teams will be giving their all in an attempt to stay in contention at the event.

Standings

Check out the current standings.

Day 3: Matches

The matches scheduled for today are as follows:

• Evil Geniuses Vs Newbee

• TnC Vs VGJ.Thunder

• OG Vs Optic Gaming

• Team Secret Vs Pain Gaming

• Team Liquid Vs Complexity

• Virtus.pro Vs Na`Vi

• Vici Gaming Vs LFY

• Vega Vs Mineski

Tell us what you think of the matches and which teams will make it to the playoffs?