Dota 2 BetBoom Dacha Dubai: Azure Ray, BetBoom bag final Playoff spots while Nouns, OG go home

BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, the first big Dota 2 tournament of the year, has concluded its Group Stage with China's Azure Ray and Eastern Europe's BetBoom Team bagging the last two spots in the Playoffs.

They will be joining Xtreme Gaming, Team Spirit, Gaimin Gladiators, LGD Gaming, Team Falcons, and Team Liquid in the next stage of the tournament. Meanwhile, North America's Nouns and Western Europe's OG narrowly missed out on a Playoff spot and will be going home early as a result.

Here's how all the action went down in the final day of the BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 Group Stage:

Azure Ray, BetBoom bag last Playoff spots in Group B while Nouns, OG bow out

With Xtreme and Spirit claiming the first two Playoff spots in Group B, the last day of Group Stage action for the group had plenty of drama. Azure Ray and BetBoom were to face off in a pivotal match, as whichever team managed to win 2-0 will be guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs while the loser may be in danger of getting upset by OG or Nouns.

OG and Nouns needed to score a 2-0 upset over Spirit and Xtreme, respectively, in order to even have a chance of sniffing the Playoffs. Anything less than a 2-0 win will mean an early exit for OG and Nouns while Azure Ray and BetBoom head safely to the Playoffs.

Azure Ray ended up sweeping BetBoom, giving the Chinese team the third Playoff spot for the group and putting the Eastern European squad at risk of being embroiled in a tiebreaker with OG and Nouns for that fourth spot.

Nouns lost their first game against Xtreme, knocking them out of Playoff contention even if they ended up forcing the series to a 1-1 draw. OG looked to be in good position to force a tiebreaker after they won a 71-minute game one over Spirit, though their hopes were also dashed after they ended up losing game two.

As a result, BetBoom claimed the last Playoff spot for Group B, though it may be too close for comfort for the Eastern European squad.

Four-way tie persists in Group A, to be settled with one-versus-one tiebreakers

Things in Group A were already largely settled even before the final day of the Group Stage. Aurora and Virtus.pro (VP) were already eliminated while Gaimin Gladiators, LGD, Falcons, and Liquid were guaranteed Playoff spots — though those four teams were all tied at 5-3 and still needed to decide their Playoff seeding.

Despite already being eliminated, Aurora and VP managed to score valiant 1-1 draws against Falcons and Gaimin Gladiators, respectively. Liquid and LGD also ended up drawing their series, which meant the four-way tie between the Playoff teams of Group A still persisted.

Since all the teams locked in that four-way tie were already qualified for the Playoffs, tournament rules dictated that the tiebreakers will be determined through their Neustadtl scores and head-to-head records.

Funnily enough, all four teams had a Sonneborn–Berger score of 27 and had no separation in terms of head-to-head record. As a result, the final Group A seedings will be determined through classic one-versus-one mid Shadow Fiend matches on Friday (9 February).

The representatives for each team will go head-to-head, with the winners of each matchup earning their team a higher seed as well as some bragging rights for themselves. It will also be a nice sort of undercard event to the tournament's official one-versus-one tournament on Saturday (10 February), where the winner will claim a US$50,000 grand prize out of a US$100,000 prize pool.

Here are the final results for the BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 Group Stage:

Group A:

• Aurora 1-1 Virtus.pro

• Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 Team Liquid

• Team Falcons 1-1 LGD Gaming

• Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 Aurora

• LGD Gaming 1-1 Virtus.pro

• Team Falcons 0-2 Team Liquid

• LGD Gaming 2-0 Aurora

• Gaimin Gladiators 0-2 Team Falcons

• Team Liquid 2-0 Virtus.pro

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 LGD Gaming

• Team Falcons 2-0 Virtus.pro

• Team Liquid 1-1 Aurora

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Virtus.pro

• Team Falcons 1-1 Aurora

• Team Liquid 1-1 LGD Gaming

Group B:

• Xtreme Gaming 2-0 BetBoom Team

• Azure Ray 2-0 OG

• Team Spirit 2-0 Nouns

• BetBoom Team 2-0 OG

• Azure Ray 1-1 Nouns

• Team Spirit 1-1 Xtreme Gaming

• OG 2-0 Nouns

• Team Spirit 1-1 BetBoom Team

• Xtreme Gaming 2-0 Azure Ray

• BetBoom Team 1-1 Nouns

• Xtreme Gaming 2-0 OG

• Team Spirit 1-1 Azure Ray

• Xtreme Gaming 1-1 Nouns

• Azure Ray 2-0 BetBoom Team

• Team Spirit 1-1 OG

Here are the final standings for the BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 Group Stage:

Group A:

1. Gaimin Gladiators: 6-4 (qualified for Playoffs)

2. LGD Gaming: 6-4 (qualified for Playoffs)

3. Team Falcons: 6-4 (qualified for Playoffs)

4. Team Liquid: 6-4 (qualified for Playoffs)

5. Aurora: 3-7 (eliminated)

6. Virtus.pro: 3-7 (eliminated)

Group B:

1. Xtreme Gaming: 8-2 (qualified for Playoffs)

2. Team Spirit: 6-4 (qualified for Playoffs)

3. Azure Ray: 6-4 (qualified for Playoffs)

4. BetBoom Team: 4-6 (qualified for Playoffs)

5. Nouns: 3-7 (eliminated)

6. OG: 3-7 (eliminated)

With the dissolution of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) last year, the 2024 Dota 2 esports season will see a return to third-party tournaments being the main form of competition across the title.

BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 will kick off the 2024 season from 4 to 16 February in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and will feature 12 of the best Dota 2 teams from across the world fight for the lion's share of a US$1 million prize pool.

For everything you need to know about BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, check here.

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