posted by Sun_Tzu,
The RaidCall Dota 2 League's third season group stages are ending tomorrow with the final game(s) of ua Na`Vi, who are flying back from China today. But before any of that, the first round of the playoffs will be played tonight at midnight CEST between last season winner us Team Liquid and eu Fnatic.EU.


On top of the World



Having each had their succesfull runs in China and being two of the favourites going into The International next month, it's not surprise that se The Alliance and Na`Vi also reached the top of the D2L, edging out de mousesports by winning the head-to-head matches. While Na`Vi still has two games left against Alliance and another against ru Virtus.Pro to be played after they've gotten back to Europe tomorrow, neither game will impact Na`Vi's position in the top 2.

No more American dominance



During previous season D2L has had a strong showing of American teams, with last years final being played between Team Liquid and us Team Dignitas, but with a change to the server rules as well as other circumstances taking effect, it's been a rougher ride for the Americans this time around. Dignitas along with us Evil Geniuses are in fact facing possible elimination, with the tournament life of EG being reliant on a jetlagged Na`Vi to edge out another win against VP, which will be determined tomorrow, July 11th at 15:00 CEST.

While both Liquid and Fnatic have already made their way through, it wasn't an easy run, as Fnatic were sitting at the bottom of the standings after having dropped a few games before finding their form. They saved themselves from elimination and eventually got into a nice and cozy 4th place after a strong run in their games over the later half of the tournament. Meanwhile Liquid ended the groupstage in fifth place, as they weren't quite able to find their form after the G-1 Champions League.

Playoffs begin



The first match coming up will be between Fnatic.EU and Team Liquid, with both teams now having settled in at their respective bootcamps, Fnatic over in Serbia and Liquid in the heat of Las Vegas, Nevada. Both teams are showing an upswing in terms of their performance, with perhaps Fnatic being further along on their recovery to form, as the Liquid bootcamp is still relatively young.

On the other hand mouz still await their opponent, which will be either VP or EG. While mouz are likely slightly favoured due to their greater stability, each of these teams are going to have a shot at the win if their game comes together. This match will follow the VP vs. Na`Vi series tomorrow at 18:00 CEST, July 11th.

The playoffs will be a quick affair as the two top teams need to be decided in time for them to secure their trips to Spain next weekend, as the best-of-five final will be played offline at DreamHack Valencia.

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