The main event of Valve’s $3 million (~£2.37 million) Dota 2 Boston Major got underway at the Wang Theatre, Boston on Wednesday.
The format is following a previously unused single elimination format, meaning there’s no second chances. One series defeat and a team is sent home – it’s a famously unforgiving format with no shot at redemption.
The first day saw four fixtures take place and thus four teams head home on just the first day of the main event. Here’s a short recap of what happened on the first day of competition.
Virtus Pro vs IG.Vitality
There was a clear favourite going into this fixture, with CIS fan favourites Virtus Pro looking incredibly strong going into the event – with victory at The Summit 6 and they seemingly strolled through their group stage games finishing as one of the top seeds.
IG.Vitality on the other hand, were a team that came to Boston with a multitude of problems. Two of their players failed to obtain Visas for the event and thus two substitutes were roped in at short notice. It’s tough to build chemistry over months in Dota 2, never mind over just a few weeks and with the team captain one of the missing members – they were given very little chance.
The game avoided any upset with VP taking the series 2-0 and sending the Chinese roster out of the tournament. They weren’t as clear-cut as many expected, though. The second game especially saw one of the most dramatic endings we saw on the first day but impeccable team fight execution ultimately saw the team from the CIS progress through.
Wings Gaming vs Evil Geniuses
Of the four games on the bill, this was definitely the biggest of note. It saw The International 5 champions Evil Geniuses face up against The International 6 champions Wings Gaming.
Both teams under-performed compared to expectations in the group stages leading to one of the two favourites heading home on the first day.
It was another Best of Three that ended in just two games though, with North American’s EG coming out on top in both games. Whilst the first was fairly close, the Americans exerted total domination from start to finish to progress through to the next round where they will meet another CIS machine – Virtus Pro in the quarter finals come Friday.
Complexity vs WarriorsGaming.Unity
coL came through the group stages with two sensational victories over arch nemesis Evil Geniuses and the community seemed relatively excited about their chances in the tournament.
The team they came up against were a team that not many in the Western scene knew much about. A surprise qualifiers from the South East Asian region, WarriorsGaming head to Boston to compete in their first tournament away from Asian soil.
Off the back of two exceptional Timbersaw performances from their young mid-laner NaNa, the fledgling Malaysian squad sprung a pretty monumental upset as they not only beat the American squad but dispatched of them with relative ease.
It was the third two-zero series of the day and we’re excited to see if WG.U can continue to spring upsets as they progress to the quarter finals.
MVP Phoenix vs OG
The first day of the competition and thus the left side of the tournament is hugely stacked, with most of the pre-tournament favourites competing.
Two time Major winners from last season OG were clear favourites in a series against a somewhat misfiring Korean MVP squad.
Quite frankly, the series was decided by the expert mind of the Israel OG captain, Tal ‘Fly’ Aizik who out-thought his Korean counterparts to give them hugely favourable compositions and they drilled home their advantage with a ruthless streak that justifies their favourite tag.
Esports Insider says: It was four 2-0 series so not the most compelling day of action but the TI6 winners were sent packing on the first day of competition in the most notable result. Tomorrow should see some more great matches but it has been a great event thus far.