The penultimate day of the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League Group Stage saw Team Adroit stay alive by forcing a 1-1 tie with Geek Fam, while Fnatic secured the top spot in the standings with a dominant 2-0 sweep over rivals TNC Predator.
Geek Fam 1 – 1 Team Adroit
Adroit kicked the day off with a four-protect-one strategy headlined by John Anthony “Natsumi-” Vargas’s Terrorblade. Geek Fam countered with a strong midgame tri-core of Troll Warlord for Marc Polo “Raven” Fausto, a mid Tiny for Karl “Karl” Jayme, and an offlane Queen of Pain for Carlo “Kuku” Palad.
Geek Fam were dominant from the get-go, but Adroit kept things close well into the midgame as Natsumi was able to become the most-farmed hero on the map. But after a crucial Roshan fight at the 33-minute mark ended in disaster for Adroit, Geek Fam secured an easy game one victory just three minutes later. Karl’s excellent playmaking keyed Geek Fam’s dominance and netted him a game-high 13 kills against two deaths.
Adroit looked to bounce back with Natsumi on Terrorblade once more, while Mc Nicholson “Mac” Villanueva was put on Kunkka and Jun “Bok” Kanehara had Nature’s Prophet to back him up. Geek Fam opted for a four-protect-one lineup headlined by Raven on Alchemist, with Karl on a mid Windranger and Kuku on Treant Protector to back him up.
The tables seemingly turned in game two, as it was Geek Fam who lost control of the game after a crucial Roshan fight ended in disaster. Despite their best efforts to defend, Geek Fam’s lone core in Raven wasn’t quite enough to stand up against Adroit’s three-headed monster. After an action-packed 38 minutes, Adroit was able to force the series to a tie with Natsumi, Mac, and Bok all finishing with seven kills.
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Fnatic 2 – 0 TNC Predator
TNC opened the most anticipated matchup of the group stage with a four-protect-one strategy headlined by Kim “Gabbi” Villuafuerte’s Naga Siren, with Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios on Dragon Knight and Damien “kpii” Chok on an offlane Void Spirit to back him up. Fnatic countered with a strong midgame tri-core of a carry Nature’s Prophet for Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, Tiny for Kam “Moon” Boon Seng, and Necrophos for Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang.
Fnatic held the lead from the start of the game and never looked back, as their tri-core went on the offensive early and simply ran over TNC’s slower-paced lineup. Game one of the series ended after 34 minutes with a lopsided kill score falling heavily in favor of the tournament favorites, 31-8. 23savage led the way with nine kills, while both Moon and iceiceice had eight.
TNC ran another four-protect-one strategy in game two with Gabbi on Terrorblade, while Armel was on a mid Timbersaw and kpii on an offlane Queen of Pain to back him up. Fnatic promptly responded with another strong midgame tri-core of Ursa for 23savage, Tiny for Moon once more, and an offlane Dazzle for iceiceice.
Game two played out much like game one, as Fnatic’s up-tempo lineup bulldozed through TNC before the latter could build up in strength. While TNC was able to hold out for 43 grueling minutes, it was still a statement victory for Fnatic. 23savage led the way for his team again with 16 kills against five deaths, while Moon pitched in 13 kills of his own against two deaths.
With their dominant victory over TNC, Fnatic finished the SEA League Group Stage atop the standings and will be entering the playoffs as the top seed. TNC remain in second place, though they still have one more match against T1 in the final day of the group stage.
Geek Fam have locked up the third spot in the standings and secured themselves an Upper Bracket berth after a four-match gauntlet this week. Meanwhile, Adroit are now tied with Reality Rift for the last spot in the playoffs and will be facing them in a loser-goes-home match.
Here are the full standings after Day 3 of Week 4 of the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League Group Stage:
| Rank | Team Name | W-T-L | Record | Points |
| 1. | Fnatic | 6-2-1 | 14-4 | 20 |
| 2. | TNC Predator | 4-3-1 | 11-5 | 15 |
| 3. | Geek Fam | 3-5-1 | 11-7 | 14 |
| 3. | Neon Esports | 3-4-2 | 10-8 | 13 |
| 5. | BOOM Esports | 3-3-3 | 9-9 | 12 |
| 6. | NEW Esports | 3-2-4 | 8-10 | 11 |
| 7. | T1 | 3-1-4 | 7-9 | 10 |
| 8. | Reality Rift | 2-3-3 | 7-9 | 9 |
| 8. | Team Adroit | 1-6-1 | 8-8 | 9 |
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