beastcoast send EE's squad home, face iG next

Two more teams got eliminated from the MDL Chengdu Major: Fnatic and Fighting PandaS dropped out. Their common ground: they both got defeated by underdogs. The winning teams beastcoast and Invictus Gaming will now have to face each other in their next match.

iG do not accept defeat

The rising stars Invictus Gaming sprung a surprise: after three games, they kicked out the SEA stronghold Fnatic with a convincing 2-1. iG was considered a clear underdog in the Major. After falling short in the Chengdu 2019: China Qualifier, they had to fight their way though the DOTA Summit 11. There they managed to put up a dominate performance, losing only two maps in the entire tournament. They continued their run in the group stage of the Major with a 4-0 result. The seemingly invincible team then conceded a loss against tournament favorites Evil Geniuses and took another slap in the first match against Fnatic.

After only 22 minutes and a 30-10 score, iG had to surrender. Fnatic's newcomer Nuengnara '23savage' Teeramahanon demolished the Chinese team on his 14/0/9 Gyrocopter. But iG proved much comeback potential and fought back. In both successive matches, they quickly secured the net worth lead, map control and finally the victory. Our joinDOTA Summit MVP Zhou 'Emo' Yi stepped up his game, ending his last match on a 19/2/9 Storm Spirit. The team now has the chance to continue their victory spree against another dark horse: beastcoast.

Pandas vs beasts

Peruvian team Beastcoast eliminated the Canadian Fighting PandaS around captain Jacky 'EternaLEnVy' Mao with a clear 2-0 swipe. Despite both matches starting out evenly in net worth, beastcoast were able to secure their advantage after big teamfights. Especially offlaner Adrian 'Wisper' Cesperes had a strong impact on both games: first, he hunted down the PandaS with his 5/0/12 Night Stalker. In game 2 he even surpassed his first performance with his 11/3/20 Sand King. Elvis 'Scofield' de la Cruz on the other hand showed how a last-minute escape is done correctly.

Their path in the Lower Bracket continues and their next opponent is no other than the winner of the previously higlighted matchup: Invictus Gaming. iG and beastcoast have already had an encounter in the group stage of the Major. Then, iG emerged victorious 2-0 over beastcoast. It is now up to see if the South American team found the right strategy to finally end iG's dominance.