Elite League Round-Robin Stage Day 5: Team Spirit’s Demise

We’re headed to the final day of the Elite League Group Stage, and three more results have been fixed since the previous day. Team Falcons expectedly qualified for the Playoffs already after securing a 10-4 score. Meanwhile, Blacklist International and Team Spirit have insufficient points to break through the next stage. 

Group A

Team Spirit, who was in a tight position, had to play against PSG Quest for their survival in the tournament. In the first map, TA2000’s Anti-Mage was handed a red carpet, getting a free game and carrying his team with a 14/0/8 score. 

The following map was a nightmare for Larl, who went 1/9/3 on Storm Spirit. TA2000 again played exceptionally well, 17/2/9 on Carry Windranger. This 2-0 result meant the TI winners would exit the tournament early. Is the prize pool of this event too low for them?

Entity Gaming, a team that has been on the rise, holding a 10-0 map streak a few days ago, has begun to struggle. In the first map against Azure Ray, the Western European roster took an early advantage. However, they did not have the heroes to lock down Lou’s Weaver, who eventually came online and carried the game. Entity could not find their footing in the second game, and lost the series 0-2.

At the end of the day, Entity went for a second round of matches, this time against Team Falcons, who only needed one more win to guarantee their Playoffs position. Both games ended in favor of the MENA-backed squad, as they could continue to display their dominance.

There were many instances of fun all-chatting between ATF, Malr1ne and Fishman, who were former teammates. 

The Falcons have become the first group to secure a spot in the top eight. 

Group B

The day started with Aurora and the BetBoom Team. In the first map, the bookmakers were completely outplayed in the early stages, and could not find a way back into the game. In 33 minutes, the BetBoom Team only found 5 kills. 

The Southeast Asians continued winning the laning stage in the second game, but gpk~’s Sniper and Nightfall’s Luna worked well together to eventually win the map, drawing the series 1-1.

Xtreme Gaming faced Blacklist International, a team on the verge of elimination. The first game was incredibly easy for Ame, who had no issues on his Gyrocopter, who went 9/0/9 to end the game in 36 minutes.

We were treated to watch Xm’s Sniper in the second, a player-hero combination that has an insanely high win rate. The Chinese Mid player displayed why, and went 15/1/19 and claimed the 2-0 victory. This result was the finishing blow to the Filipinos, as Blacklist International have joined Team Spirit and Heroic in elimination. 

Another interesting matchup was the confrontation between the Gaimin Gladiators and Tundra Esports. In the first map, the Gladiators maintained a decent lead, peaking at 11,000. However, dyrachyo’s Weaver was picked off trying to cut waves, allowing Tundra to subsequently take a good fight and turn the game around. Pure's Morphling made a comeback into the game and got the job done to win the first map.

The second was a total stomp in favor of the Gladiators, who wanted to say that the first game was just a fluke. The game ended in 24 minutes, with a kill score of 36-9. The story of the game can already be visualized by that score. 

Tomorrow marks the last day of the Elite League Group Stage, and only four outcomes have been decided.