Tournament spotlight: Team Spirit and Team Liquid qualify for 1win Series Dota 2 Spring Playoffs (Day Two recap)

The 1win Series Dota 2 Spring Group Stage has officially concluded with Virtus.Pro, Team Liquid, Entity and Team Spirit securing their place in the playoffs.  

Following a hectic day one which saw MOUZ secure an unlikely upset, the $100,000 (~£78,500) event hosted by bookmaker 1win eliminated half of its participants on the second day.

Tomorrow’s playoff participants will now be guaranteed a select amount of prize money. The pool allocation sees first place secure $50,000 (~£39,300), whilst second, third and fourth will receive $30,000, $15,000 and $5,000, respectively. With coverage supported by 1win, here’s a look back at how Day Two of the 1win Series Dota 2 Spring unfolded.

Following a surprising Group A Losers Match defeat to bookmaker-owned esports organisation L1GA Team, PSG Quest was the first organisation to be knocked out of the tournament. After more than 57 minutes of gameplay, which at one point saw PSG Quest hold a 10,000 gold advantage, L1GA Team took the reins after the 35-minute mark to walk out victorious. 

Following the tournament’s first elimination, 1win Series Dota 2 Spring’s first playoff participant was confirmed with Armenia-based esports organisation Virtus.Pro defeating Team Liquid in the Winners Match. The odds were already stacked against Team Liquid with former TSM player Enzo ‘Timado’ Gianoli subbing in for Michael ‘miCKe’ Vu for the second day. However, despite this initial setback, Team Liquid competed in a well-contested 32 – 30 match that lasted over 68 minutes.

Whilst Team Liquid was unable to secure a victory against Virtus.Pro, the organisation’s multinational roster still had the opportunity to qualify for the playoffs by beating L1GA Team in the event’s first BO3.

Ahead of the final Group A match-up, L1GA Team were still considered the underdogs despite Team Liquid’s roster change. However, game one saw L1GA Team record a surprisingly dominant 39-10 victory in just under 40 minutes. Dota 2’s relative newcomers were unable to complete the upset though as Team Liquid secured victories in games two (24-15) and three (25-10) — the latter of which was a sub-20-minute surrender.

1win Series Dota 2 Spring Group B was largely centred around Team Spirit, with The International 2023 champions looking to avenge its loss to MOUZ by securing a spot in the playoffs. 

Team Spirit’s first opponent was 1win’s own esports organisation in the Losers Match. The BO1 match-up, which could be a potential clash at next month’s ESL One Birmingham 2024, was a well-fought 25-19 45-minute game that saw 1win become the third team eliminated from the series. 

In the Group B Winners Match, MOUZ was unable to capitalise on yesterday’s momentum after losing to Indian esports organisation Entity. In the end, the organisation’s mixed CIS roster secured a comfortable 28-7 BO1 victory that lasted just under 33 minutes.

As a result, the final match-up for the Group Stage was a Day One rematch between the German esports organisation and Team Spirit, this time under a BO3 format. The Belgrade-based esports organisation’s slightly longer road to the 1win Dota 2 Series playoffs was capped off with a 2-0 victory, knocking MOUZ out of the event in the process.

The first game was heavily in the favour of Team Spirit, with the organisation recording a scoreline victory of 47-14 in 36 minutes. However, the second game proved to be much a closer back-and-forth affair. Despite MOUZ gaining momentum after 30 minutes of action, Team Spirit ultimately came back to claim a 41 -32 victory in nearly 55 minutes.

The playoff bracket will commence on March 18th with Virtus.Pro taking on Team Spirit, whilst Team Liquid will clash against Entity. The third-place match and finals will take place on March 19th.

According to 1win, the $100,000 Dota 2 series is expected to be the first in a series of events as the bookmaker looks to expand its presence in esports. As highlighted with the likes of L1GA Team, bookmakers have become increasingly integrated into certain esports scenes — notably Dota 2 and Counter-Strike — through unique activations that go beyond shirt sponsorships. 

Fans can tune in to the 1win Series Dota 2 Spring playoffs live on YouTube and Twitch on March 18th – 19th. 

This article is supported by 1win.