Singapore Major Day 4 recap: Thunder Predator, PSG.LGD, VG in upper bracket

The Group Stage of the ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major has concluded, with surging South American team Thunder Predator as well as Chinese teams PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming (VG) securing a spot in the upper bracket of the Playoffs.

Quincy Crew from North America, Team Aster from China, Neon Esports (now going by OB.Neon) from Southeast Asia, and Team Liquid from Europe all advance to the Playoffs as well, though they will have to start from the lower bracket. Meanwhile, European team Alliance have been eliminated.

Here are the results of the Group Stage matches for Day 2:

• Quincy Crew 1-1 Alliance

• Thunder Predator 1-1 Neon Esports

• Team Aster 1-1 Team Liquid

• PSG.LGD 1-1 Vici Gaming

• Alliance 1-1 Neon Esports

• Quincy Crew 2-0 Team Aster

• Vici Gaming 2-0 Team Aster

• PSG.LGD 2-0 Alliance

• Neon Esports 2-0 Team Liquid

• Thunder Predator 1-1 Vici Gaming

• Team Liquid 1-1 Alliance

• PSG.LGD 2-0 Quincy Crew

• Thunder Predator 2-0 PSG.LGD

Thunder Predator's blazing 8-0 start in day one of the Group Stage meant they only needed to take one more win in day two to guarantee themselves an upper bracket berth. While their perfect run was stopped after Neon Esports and VG forced them to a draw, they ended the day with a 2-0 over PSG.LGD to finish the Group Stage atop the standings with a 12-2 record.

Thunder Predator's success thus far continues to be a massive boost to the South American Dota scene, as it can 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.

In stark contrast to Thunder Predator, PSG.LGD and VG are two teams that many expected to top the Group Stage. Despite starting the Major from the Wildcard Stage, both squads were considered two of the strongest teams in China and should still be expected to make deep runs in the tournament.

Quincy Crew, Team Aster, and Team Liquid were in a four-way tie with VG for third place at the end of day one. While those three teams advanced to the Playoffs, they were unable to get over the hump in day two to contest one of the upper bracket spots and will instead start from the lower bracket.

Neon Esports notably bounced back from their 1-7 start in day one to avoid elimination. The Southeast Asian squad forced draws with Thunder Predator and Alliance then swept Liquid 2-0 to guarantee a spot in the Playoffs.

Neon's resurgence is made even more impressive when considering they had to rule out substitute Rafael "Rappy" Palo for the rest of the Major after he was found to have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. Singaporean player Yang "Deth" Wu Heng has notably shined as Rappy's replacement despite the short notice.

Meanwhile, Alliance was unable to recover from their 1-5 start in day one. While they were able to force draws against Neon and Liquid, a 2-0 loss to PSG.LGD essentially guaranteed their elimination from the Major.

This early exit is a very disappointing outcome for Alliance. They were expected to be one of the teams advancing to the Playoffs as they were the second-placed team of the European regional league, the region many consider the best in the circuit. Instead, their trip to Singapore has been 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.

Here are the standings at the end of the Group Stage:

Thunder Predator, PSG.LGD, and VG will now be joining Team Secret from Europe, Invictus Gaming from China, Fnatic from Southeast Asia, Virtus.pro from the CIS, and Evil Geniuses from North America in the upper bracket of the Playoffs. Only two teams were initially supposed to advance to the upper bracket from the Group Stage, but a third spot was opened up by Beastcoast's withdrawal from the tournament.

The first round of the Playoffs will open with Evil Geniuses taking on Fnatic, Invictus Gaming facing Vici Gaming, Thunder Predator going up against Team Secret, and Virtus.pro squaring up against PSG.LGD. The winners of each upper bracket match will advance to the further rounds of the upper bracket, while the losers will drop down to the lower bracket.

The lower bracket will open with the four lower bracket teams taking on the losers of the first round of upper bracket matches. The winners of each lower bracket match will then advance to the further rounds of the lower bracket, while the losers will be eliminated.

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.

Check out esports videos from Yahoo TV: