Dota 2 Bali Major Group Stage day 3: Quest, BetBoom emerge as contenders

The competition is heating up in the Dota 2 Bali Major as the third day of the Group Stage came to a close.

While Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid have been the early favourites to claim the championship, two new contenders have emerged in day three: Western European upstarts Quest Esports and star-studded Eastern European squad BetBoom Team.

Quest, BetBoom now lead in Group B

Quest and BetBoom have taken over the top two spots in Group B, pushing two-time Major champions Gaimin Gladiators down to third place.

Quest boast an excellent 9-1 record, made more impressive by the fact that this is the first-ever Major for most of its players. Only offlaner Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, a Major champion himself, has Major experience.

Quest notably had a perfect day three, scoring back-to-back sweeps over North America's Nouns Esports and South America's Evil Geniuses. Quest's only loss thus far came at the hands of Gaimin Gladiators in day one, though that did come after they outlasted the defending Major champions in a 136-minute marathon.

Meanwhile, BetBoom sit in second place in Group B with a 8-2 record. Day three saw Eastern Europe's superteam draw with Chinese powerhouse PSG.LGD and sweep regional rivals 9Pandas.

With Gaimin Gladiators sitting in third place with a 7-3 record, the remaining three Playoff spots in Group B are still up for grabs between five teams.

9Pandas (5-5), PSG.LGD (5-5), and Nouns Esports (5-7) remain in good position to make the Playoffs, though Bleed Esports (4-6) and Azure Ray (4-8) still have outside shots.

Meanwhile, Evil Geniuses languish at the bottom of the standings in Group B with an abysmal 1-11 record. South America's top dogs are all but assured of an early exit, a disappointing result for a team that finished in the Top 6 and Top 4 of the last two Majors, respectively.

Liquid remain on top in Group A

While Gaimin Gladiators have been usurped in Group B, their rivals Team Liquid retain their firm grip on the top seed of Group A. Liquid still hold the best record in the Group Stage so far at 10-2, notably finishing day three with a sweep over Team Spirit and a draw against Invictus Gaming.

Right behind Liquid are The International 2022 (TI 2022) champions Tundra Esports, who have a 7-3 record. The defending TI champions are notably playing with coach Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling as a stand-in after Martin "Saksa" Sazdov was forced to miss the rest of the tournament due to a sudden illness.

With Evil Geniuses struggling mightily in Group B, Beastcoast now fly the banner of South America as they sit in third place in Group A with a 7-5 record.

While there's a clear hierarchy in the Top 3 of Group A, the rest of the standings are filled with ties.

Team Aster and Team Spirit are tied for fourth place with 5-5 records apiece. Invictus Gaming (4-6) and Shopify Rebellion (4-8) are on the Playoff bubble while Southeast Asian squads Blacklist International and Execration, both at 3-7, are on the outside looking in.

With only two more days remaining in the Group Stage, the top-performing teams will soon lock in their Playoff spots while the struggling squads will be battling desperately to avoid early elimination.

Here are the results for all the matches in day three of the Bali Major Group Stage:

Group A:

• Team Aster 0-2 Beastcoast

• Tundra Esports 2-0 Blacklist International

• Shopify Rebellion 1-1 Execration

• Team Liquid 2-0 Team Spirit

• Blacklist International 1-1 Execration

• Team Liquid 1-1 Invictus Gaming

• Team Aster 2-0 Shopify Rebellion

• Team Spirit 1-1 Beastcoast

Group B:

• 9Pandas 2-0 Evil Geniuses

• BetBoom Team 1-1 PSG.LGD

• Azure Ray 0-2 Bleed Esports

• Quest Esports 2-0 Nouns Esports

• BetBoom Team 2-0 9Pandas

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Azure Ray

• Quest Esports 2-0 Evil Geniuses

• Nouns Esports 1-1 Bleed Esports

Here are the standings after day three of the Bali Major Group Stage:

Group A:

1. Team Liquid: 10-2

2. Tundra Esports: 7-3

3. Beastcoast: 7-5

4. Team Aster: 5-5

5. Team Spirit: 5-5

6. Invictus Gaming: 4-6

7. Shopify Rebellion: 4-8

8. Blacklist International: 3-7

9. Execration: 3-7

Group B:

1. Quest Esports: 9-1

2. BetBoom Team: 8-2

3. Gaimin Gladiators: 7-3

4. 9Pandas: 5-5

5. PSG.LGD: 5-5

6. Nouns Esports: 5-7

7. Bleed Esports: 4-6

8. Azure Ray: 4-8

9. Evil Geniuses: 1-11

The Bali Major is split into two stages. The first is the Group Stage, taking place from 29 June to 3 July, and the second is the Playoffs, set for 5 to 9 July.

The Bali Major Group Stage will see the 18 participating teams split into two groups of nine teams each. They will then compete in a single round-robin featuring best-of-two matches to determine which teams will advance to the Playoffs.

Six out of the nine teams in each group will earn Playoff spots. The Top 4 teams of each group will advance to the upper bracket while the fifth and sixth-placed teams will have to start from the lower bracket.

Meanwhile, the bottom three teams in each group will be eliminated early.

The Bali Major Playoffs will follow a double-elimination format. All Playoff matches will be a best-of-three except for the Grand Finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.

While the competing teams in Bali are fighting for their cut of the US$500,000 prize pool, they have their eyes set on a share of the 3,500 DPC point pool.

Those DPC points will go towards securing all-important direct invites to The International (TI) 2023, this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual multi-million dollar world championship tournament that will be held in Seattle this October.

For everything you need to know about the Bali Major, check here.

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