Tundra Esports won twice on Thursday to rise to the top of Group B with one day left in Group Stage 1 at DreamLeague Season 28.
Tundra is the first team to reach four wins in its group, with MOUZ close behind in second. In Group A, Aurora Gaming notched another win and remains comfortably in first.
Five teams have clinched passage into Group Stage 2 with one round to spare: Aurora, PARIVISION and Team Liquid from Group A, and Tundra and MOUZ from Group B. Either BetBoom Team or OG will earn the last bid from Group A when they square off on Friday. Four teams have a shot at the last two spots in Group B.
The $1 million Dota 2 event features 16 teams, starting in a round-robin stage split into two groups of eight teams. All series consist of two games, and the top four teams from each group advance to Group Stage 2, a single round robin featuring best-of-three matches.
From there, four teams will compete in a double-elimination playoff bracket Feb. 28-March 1 with best-of-three matches until the grand final, which will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $250,000 in prize money and a $40,000 club reward. The runner-up side will get $100,000 and a $30,000 club reward.
On Thursday, Tundra swept past Execration and Natus Vincere. In the first match, Tundra won in 29 minutes on green and 43 minutes on red; then, they took down NaVi in 35 minutes on green and 31 minutes on red. Russian Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko had a nearly perfect day, averaging a 9.0-0.5-14.5 kills-deaths-assists differential against Execration and then coming out unscathed with a 9.5-0.0-13.0 KDA against Natus Vincere.
MOUZ had a win over Natus Vincere and a tie with GamerLegion to secure second place and clinch a spot in the next stage. The only other 2-0 result in Group B came when Team Spirit beat Execration in 30 minutes on red and 27 minutes on green.
In Group A, Aurora’s fifth win of the stage came against OG in 39 minutes on red and 34 minutes on green. Team Liquid also beat OG (37 minutes on green, 38 minutes on red) to pave its way into the next stage, and BetBoom positioned itself in fourth when it beat Yakult Bros in 36 minutes on green and 42 minutes on red.
Group Stage 1 continues through Friday.
DreamLeague Season 28 Group Stage 1, Group A standings (W-T-L, map record)
1. Aurora Gaming, 5-1-0, 11-1
2. PARIVISION, 3-3-0, 9-3
3. Team Liquid, 3-2-1, 8-4
4. BetBoom Team, 3-1-2, 7-5
5. OG, 2-1-3, 5-7
T6. paiN Gaming, 1-1-4, 3-9
T6. Yakult Brothers, 1-1-4, 3-9
8. Team Yandex, 0-2-4, 2-10
DreamLeague Season 28 Group Stage 1, Group B standings (W-T-L, map record)
1. Tundra Esports, 4-2-0, 10-2
2. MOUZ, 3-3-0, 9-3
T3. Team Falcons, 2-3-1, 7-5
T3. Xtreme Gaming, 2-3-1, 7-5
T5. Natus Vincere, 2-1-3, 5-7
T5. Team Spirit, 1-3-2, 5-7
7. GamerLegion, 0-3-3, 3-9
8. Execration, 1-0-5,2-10
Dream League Season 28 prize pool, with prize money and club reward
1. $250,000, $40,000
2. $125,000, $30,000
3. $80,000, $25,000
4. $60,000, $20,000
5. $45,000, $15,000
6. $35,000, $15,000
7. $30,000, $12,500
8. $25,000, $12,500
9-10. $20,000, $10,000
11-12. $17,500, $10,000
13-14. $15,000, $10,000
15-16. $10,000, $10,000
–Field Level Media
