TI11 Group Stage Day 1: Evil Geniuses off to perfect 6-0 start

The International 11 (TI11), this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual multimillion-dollar world championship tournament, finally begun on Saturday (15 October) with its four-day Group Stage.

After some mixed performances throughout the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season, North American powerhouse Evil Geniuses (EG) are looking like contenders for the Aegis of Champions once again as they had a perfect 6-0 start in the first day of TI11's Group Stage.

EG dominate in Group A, PSG.LGD struggle

EG started their TI11 campaign with a 2-0 sweep over regional rivals Soniqs Esports before scoring another sweep over Chinese favourites PSG.LGD in their second match.

North America's top dogs then closed out the day with their third-straight 2-0 victory over Western European juggernauts OG.

EG now sit atop Group A with their perfect record and are in a good position to secure an upper bracket berth in the Main Event.

Chinese regional qualifier winner Royal Never Give Up (RNG) are in second place with a 5-1 record off a draw with Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) winner Team Liquid and two sweeps over BOOM Esports and BetBoom Team.

Meanwhile, OG and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) winner Team Liquid are tied for third place with 4-2 records apiece.

Despite getting swept by EG, OG still scored two big sweeps over BOOM Esports and Gaimin Gladiators. Liquid drew 1-1 with RNG and Soniqs before sweeping BetBoom Team.

The biggest surprise of Group A is undoubtedly PSG.LGD only managing a measly 2-4 record after Day 1.

Despite coming into the tournament as one of the biggest favourites, the Chinese team got swept by EG and were held to unexpected draws by Hokori and Soniqs.

PSG.LGD isn't the only team struggling however, as BOOM and BetBoom are in the bottom two spots of Group A.

BOOM only managed a 1-5 record after drawing with Hokori and getting swept by OG and RNG. Meanwhile, BetBoom started off winless after getting swept by RNG, Liquid, and Gaimin Gladiators.

Both 'boom' teams now face an uphill battle to even make it to the Main Event.

Two four-way ties after Day 1 in Group B

While a clear pecking order has been established in Group A, things are more chaotic over in Group B.

There are two four-way ties in the group, one for first place and another for last place.

TI10 champions Team Spirit, LCQ winner Team Secret, Chinese powerhouse Team Aster, and South American hopefuls Thunder Awaken are all tied for first place with 3-1 records apiece.

South America's Beastcoast, Western European regional qualifier winner Entity, as well as Southeast Asian squads Fnatic and Talon Esports all have 1-3 records.

Meanwhile, North America's TSM and Western Europe's Tundra Esports both sit in the middle of the pack with 2-2 records.

It should be noted that Group B teams only played two matches each in Day 1, so we should see some separation after they all play three matches in Day 2.

Here's how all of the matches in Day 1 of TI11's Group Stage went down:

• Evil Geniuses 2-0 Soniqs Esports

• Royal Never Give Up 1-1 Team Liquid

• PSG.LGD 1-1 Hokori

• OG 2-0 BOOM Esports

• Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 BetBoom Team

• Team Secret 1-1 Thunder Awaken

• Team Spirit 1-1 Fnatic

• Entity 1-1 Beastcoast

• TSM 1-1 Talon Esports

• Team Aster 1-1 Tundra Esports

• PSG.LGD 0-2 Evil Geniuses

• Team Liquid 1-1 Soniqs Esports

• BOOM Esports 1-1 Hokori

• OG 2-0 Gaimin Gladiators

• Royal Never Give Up 2-0 BetBoom Team

• Team Spirit 2-0 Entity

• Thunder Awaken 2-0 Fnatic

• Beastcoast 0-2 Team Secret

• TSM 1-1 Tundra Esports

• Team Aster 2-0 Talon Esports

• OG 0-2 Evil Geniuses

• PSG.LGD 1-1 Soniqs Esports

• Team Liquid 2-0 BetBoom Team

• Royal Never Give Up 2-0 BOOM Esports

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Hokori

Here are the standings after Day 1 of TI11's Group Stage:

Group A

1. Evil Geniuses - 6-0

2. Royal Never Give Up - 5-1

3. OG - 4-2

4. Team Liquid - 4-2

5. Gaimin Gladiators - 3-3

6. Hokori - 3-3

7. BOOM Esports - 1-3

8. Soniqs Esports - 2-4

9. PSG.LGD - 2-4

10. BetBoom Team - 0-6

Group B

1. Team Aster - 3-1

2. Team Secret - 3-1

3. Team Spirit - 3-1

4. Thunder Awaken - 3-1

5. TSM - 2-2

6. Tundra Esports - 2-2

7. Beastcoast - 1-3

8. Entity - 1-3

9. Fnatic - 1-3

10. Talon Esports - 1-3

TI11's Group Stage will take place from 15 to 18 October, where 20 teams will fight to become among the 16 squads to advance to the Main Event. The 20 teams have been split into two groups of 10 teams each and will go through a single round robin with best-of-two matches.

The Top 4 teams in each group will advance to the upper bracket of the Main Event. The 5th-8th placed teams will also qualify for the Main Event, though they will have to start from the lower bracket.

Meanwhile, the bottom two teams of each group will be eliminated early.

TI11's Main Event will be a double-elimination bracket and is split into two phases, the first being held from 20 to 23 October while the second will take place from 29 to 30 October.

TI11 will be hosted in Singapore from 15 to 30 October and features a revamped format and a longer schedule.

For everything you need to know about TI11, check here.

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