PGL Wallachia Day 3 Recap: Azure Ray and Heroic Eliminated, XG and Falcons Advance
The third day of PGL Wallachia Season 1 was probably the first impactful day, as we got our first two eliminated and advancing teams. Azure Ray, who acted as last-minute replacements, were sent home along with Virtus.pro. Meanwhile, the top two teams in the world, Xtreme Gaming and Team Falcons, secure a spot in the Playoffs.
The day started with a huge upset. Shopify Rebellion, fielding two stand-in players, managed to snag a 2-0 victory against Team Liquid, and the games weren’t even close.
On the other side, the BetBoom Team quickly disposed of MOUZ in a swift 2-0 series. Nightfall played a near-flawless Morphling game on the first map of the series.
Even though Nouns had been looking decent throughout the tournament, Team Spirit did not let their “free win” opportunity pass, as all three Spirit cores played clean Dota to sweep the series.
Team Secret played an exciting series against BOOM Esports. The Western European squad blew an early lead in the first game, allowing BOOM to steal the first map. In the second, Team Secret built up a 66,000 net worth lead and almost threw the game. Fortunately, Puppey and the crew got the job done to tie the series. However, all of Team Secret’s effort had gone to waste, as BOOM stomped the third game to win the series 2-1.
Xtreme Gaming faced off against Aurora in an advancement match. Ame and Xm displayed masterclass performances in both games to win the series 2-0. The Chinese representatives are the first team to secure a Playoff spot.
Unfortunately, their brothers Azure Ray and G2.iG had to eliminate each other. After a long series of drawn-out games, G2.iG could win the series 2-1 after an insane performance from BoBoKa’s support Batrider in the decisive map. As a result, Azure Ray’s run ends here, but we have to remember that they probably had no preparation for the tournament since they weren’t even supposed to be here.
Even with Nine as a stand-in, Team Falcons could defeat the Gladiators in the following advancement series 2-1. The two teams traded maps to force a third game. The Gaimin Gladiators had firm control over the entire third map but lost their lead at the end. Team Falcons book a spot in the Playoffs. Throughout the series, both teams struggled to take down the Tormentor. For the Falcons, Cr1t- and Sneyking died to the damage, while Quinn's Sniper also died to it on the other side.
The final series of the day was another elimination match, this time between Virtus.pro and Heroic. Unfortunately, Davai Lama and the crew will have their Wallachia run ended early. Both games were stomped by Virtus.Pro.
The current PGL Wallachia Season 1 Group Stage standings are as follows:
Tomorrow, more teams will secure a spot in the Playoffs. At the same time, more teams will be sent home.