The first day of the DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major Group Stage has ended, with the top teams already beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the competition.
Here’s how things went down in each of the groups:
Group A
Still fresh off their win at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor to secure the last spot at the Major, Nigma Esports defeated MDL Chengdu Major champions TNC Predator, 2-1.
Despite an impressive showing from TNC carry Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte in game one, Nigma prevailed on the back of masterful performances by Aliwi “w33” Omar with Outworld Devourer in the next two games.
Meanwhile, Fnatic swept Team Aster in their opening match, notably coming back from a huge deficit in game one thanks to Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon’s Naga Siren.
Nigma and Fnatic will be facing off in the Winner’s Match on Day 2 for the first Upper Bracket spot in Group A, while TNC and Aster will be matched up in the Loser’s Match of the group.
Group B
Group B opened with a marquee matchup between two of the tournament favorites in Team Secret and Vici Gaming (VG), with Secret emerging victorious in a closely contested 2-1 series.
Secret pulled off a comeback win in game one off of some spectacular base defense, then Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat secured the series win for his team with some clutch plays on his support Dark Seer.
On the other side of the group, South American squad Beastcoast swept North American Chaos Esports Club despite, 2-0. Beastcoast notably had to attend the Major with Rodrigo “Lelis” Santosa as a stand-in with Adrian “Wisper” Cespedes Dobles out due to health issues.
Secret will look to secure the first Upper Bracket spot for Group B in the Winner’s Match against Beastcoast, while VG and Chaos EC will have to duke it out in the Loser’s Match.
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Group C
The results for Group C’s Day 1 matches went as expected, with Dota Summit 11 Minor champions Invictus Gaming (iG) defeating Southeast Asian squad Reality Rift (RR). While Reality Rift surprisingly won game one, but iG made short work of them in the next two games to secure the series win.
Meanwhile, DreamLeague Season 12 champions Alliance breezed past Virtus.pro (VP), who are making their 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit debut with their rebuilt roster.
iG and Alliance will face off in the Winner’s Match for the first Upper Bracket spot for Group C, while RR and VP will have to slug it out in the Loser’s Match.
Group D
Group D opened with a huge upset, as Natus Vincere (Na’Vi) outlasted top North American team Evil Geniuses (EG), 2-1, despite the latter being previously pegged as the clear favorites to top the group. Na’Vi’s core duo of Vladislav “Crystallize” Krystanek and Idan “MagicaL” Vardanian was instrumental in the huge victory for their team.
As for the last match of the day, Team Liquid defeated paiN Gaming, 2-1. PaiN was able to take a game off their more-favored opponents, but Liquid was able to right the ship and win the series.
Na’Vi and Liquid will be battling for the first Upper Bracket spot for Group D in the Winner’s Match, while EG will be looking to bounce back in the Loser’s Match against paiN.
