Tundra Esports and BetBoom Team advanced to the upper bracket final with 2-1 victories as the playoffs began Thursday at ESL One Birmingham in England.

Tundra Esports sandwiched a 43-minute win on red and a 45-minute win on green around Team Falcons’ 45-minute win on red.

BetBoom Team followed the same pattern, opening with a 35-minute win on green and closing with a 54-minute win on red following OG’s 48-minute victory on green.

Twelve teams, including eight regional qualifiers, began the Dota 2 tournament, competing for a share of a $1 million prize pool and 26,640 ESL Pro Tour points. The group stage split the teams into two round-robin groups of six, where all series consisted of two games.

The top two teams from each group advanced to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the third- and fourth-place teams from each group moved into the lower bracket, and the other teams were eliminated. The double-elimination playoff bracket features best-of-three matches except for Sunday’s grand final, which is best-of-five.

The playoffs continue Friday with three matches:
–Team Liquid vs. HEROIC (lower bracket Round 1)
–Xtreme Gaming vs. G2 x iG (lower bracket Round 1)
–Team Falcons vs. Liquid/Heroic winner (lower bracket quarterfinals)

ESL One Birmingham prize pool
1. $300,000, 6,400 ESL Pro Tour points — TBD
2. $175,000, 4,800 — TBD
3. $120,000, 4,000 — TBD
4. $85,000, 3,200 — TBD
5-6. $57,500, 2,240 — TBD
7-8. $47,500, 1,040 — TBD
9-10. $30,000, 560 — Talon Esports, Team Spirit
11-12. $25,000, 280 — Shopify Rebellion, Gaimin Gladiators

–Field Level Media