posted by Brasozial,
Nigma beat SEA
On the first day of the DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major, Nigma already beat the last Major champions TNC Predator. One day later they faced another South-East Asian allstar line-up: Fnatic who won against Team Aster before.
The squad surrounding Daryl Koh 'iceiceice' Pei Xiang had a better start into the series, but Nigma found a way to fight back against a strong Djardel 'DJ' Mampusti with outstanding twelve kills on Crystal Maiden.
It was just a matter of time until Amer 'Miracle-' Al-Barkawi's Phantom Lancer would take over. After more than an hour, Fnatic got team wiped out and Nigma took the game. Meanwhile, Nuengnara '23savage' Teeramahanon attempt to win the second game for Fnatic with PL failed. Again it was Miracle-, this time on Slark, deciding the game and the series.
While Nigma finished first in Group A, Fnatic recovered in the series against Team Aster. The Chinese squad surrounding Song 'Sccc' Chun finished third after beating TNC Predator 2-0.
Secret are the best
It's not a surprise seeing Team Secret in the first place of their group. They've already beaten Vici Gaming on day one and beastcoast couldn't keep up with the pace of the European powerhouse. Game one is the perfect example for that: Secret beat the South American squad in about 20 minutes.
They were barely able to kill any of Secret's players. In fact, only Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov and Ludwig 'zai' Wåhlberg died once.
After this defeat beastcoast also lost against VG in the decider match for the second Uppper Bracket slot. Chaos Esports Club finished last place after losing to beastcoast and VG.
iG trump Alliance
After a shaky start against Reality Rift, Invictus Gaming fought back and won both the series against the SEA squad and Alliance in the Winners' Match to finish first in their group.
Alliance recovered immediately and bested Reality Rift. Linus 'Limmp' Blomdin and Nikolay 'Nikobaby' Nikolov are a stable carry duo that makes it difficult to beat the European squad.
The biggest surprise, however, happened a game earlier: Reality Rift beat Virtus.pro in the Losers' Match convincingly 2-0. It seems like the CIS squad is still lacking the winning mentality the old team had.
Na'Vi upset the Western squad
Most experts didn't expect to see Natus Vincere in the Winners' Match on day two, but even less would have predicted them to come out on top of their group. The CIS squad made a perfect case of why they're the best team of their region right now.
Not only did they defeat Evil Geniuses in an exciting series, but also 2-0'ed Team Liquid on day two.
The last highlight of Group D was the Decider Match between Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses for the second Upper Bracket spot: while EG won the first game, Liquid crushed them in the second match in 22 minutes. The third game, however, was dramatic for Liquid fans. After an even start, they got an advantage but overextended in an important team fight.
EG took the the better off them and won the game in a exciting team fight on the high ground.
This means Team Liquid and paiN Gaming will start in the Lower Bracket of the playoffs. Here is the full bracket for the main event:
Which team has surprised you the most so far?
Photo credit: WePlay!
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