Singapore Major Day 3 recap: Thunder Predator shred the opposition

The Group Stage of the ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major started on Monday (29 March), with South American underdogs Thunder Predator coming out of nowhere to finish the first day with a perfect 8-0 record against some very stiff competition.

The Singapore Major's Group Stage, played over two days, will see eight teams competing in a single round-robin featuring best-of-two matches in order to determine who will advance to the Playoffs.

Chinese teams PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming (VG) as well as Team Liquid from Europe survived the tournament's Wildcard Stage over the weekend to qualify for the Group Stage. Only two teams were originally supposed to come out of the Wildcard, but an extra spot in the Group Stage was made available after CIS team Natus Vincere withdrew from the Singapore Major.

The three teams from the Wildcard joined Alliance from Europe, Team Aster from China, Neon Esports from Southeast Asia, Quincy Crew from North America, and Thunder Predator from South America, who were all directly seeded to the second stage of the Major.

Here are the results of the Group Stage matches for Day 1:

• Team Aster 2-0 Alliance

• Thunder Predator 2-0 Team Liquid

• Vici Gaming 1-1 Quincy Crew

• Quincy Crew 2-0 Neon Esports

• Thunder Predator 2-0 Alliance

• Team Liquid 1-1 PSG.LGD

• Quincy Crew 1-1 Team Liquid

• Team Aster 1-1 PSG.LGD

• Vici Gaming 2-0 Neon Esports

• Neon Esports 1-1 Team Aster

• Team Liquid 2-0 Vici Gaming

• Thunder Predator 2-0 Quincy Crew

• Vici Gaming 1-1 Alliance

• Thunder Predator 2-0 Team Aster

• PSG.LGD 2-0 Neon Esports

Thunder Predator are no doubt the biggest surprise of the Major thus far. As the second-placed team of the South American regional league, the region many consider the weakest in the circuit, they were expected to struggle against the representatives from other regions.

Instead they tore through the likes of Team Liquid, Alliance, Quincy Crew, and Team Aster with their fast-paced and hyper-aggressive playstyle.

The South American squad finish day one of the Group Stage with a perfect 8-0 record and are essentially guaranteed a spot in the upper bracket of the Playoffs.

Thunder Predator's success thus far is also a massive boost to the South American Dota scene, as it can now boast its teams can compete with the best of the best. This is even more beneficial to the region as its other representative, Beastcoast, had to withdraw from the Singapore Major after being hit by the coronavirus.

PSG.LGD sit in second place with a 4-2 record after a sweep over Neon Esports and two draws with Team Aster and Team Liquid. They have a good shot of making it to the upper bracket, but they will have to maintain separation from the rest of the pack in day two.

Quincy Crew, Team Aster, Team Liquid, and VG are all in a four-way tie for third place with a 4-4 record apiece. While all these teams are most likely going to make it to the Playoffs, they will still be fighting to secure one of the coveted upper bracket spots in day two of the Group Stage.

Alliance ended the day with only a single win against VG and were swept by Aster, Thunder Predator. As the second-placed team of the European regional league, the region many consider the best in the circuit, Alliance was expected to be among those topping the Group Stage. The European squad is still in the running to get to the Playoffs, but they will have to survive an uphill battle in day two to keep their tournament hopes alive.

Meanwhile, Southeast Asian team Neon Esports have also struggled mightily, managing a draw with Aster but getting swept by Quincy Crew, VG, and PSG.LGD. The team is notably playing without carry player John Anthony "Natsumi-" Vargas, who was deemed "unfit to travel" to Singapore due to health issues, with Rafael "Rappy" Palo as his substitute. They now find themselves on the brink of elimination.

Here are the standings after day one of the Group Stage:

Seven out of the eight teams in the Group Stage will advance to the Playoffs. Only six teams were supposed to come out from this stage of the tournament, with the top two teams meeting the directly-seeded Playoff teams in the upper bracket. However, a spot in the Playoffs opened up after Beastcoast withdrew from the Major.

Since Beastcoast were one of the teams that were slated to start in the upper bracket, the third-placed team of the Group Stage will take their spot. The number of teams that will advance to lower bracket of the Playoffs remains at four, though they are now the fourth to seventh-placed teams of the Group Stage.

The team with the worst record after the Group Stage will be eliminated and have their trip to Singapore cut short, as teams that have been eliminated from the Major are required to leave immediately in order to minimise the risk of exposure to the coronavirus to them and the remaining teams in the tournament.

The Singapore Major is scheduled to run until 4 April. The event features 16 teams from the DPC's six regional leagues competing for the lion's share of a US$500,000 prize pool and 2,700 DPC point pool.

For everything you need to know about the ONE Esports Singapore Major, check here.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page.

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