Only three teams remain standing after the penultimate day of the WePlay AniMajor: top Chinese team PSG.LGD, top Southeast Asian squad T1, and North American powerhouse Evil Geniuses (EG).
EG opened the day by knocking out Team Nigma, the sole remaining European team in the AniMajor. Meanwhile, Chinese team Vici Gaming (VG) then defeated Quincy Crew, the other North American squad in the tournament, to meet EG in the lower bracket semi-finals.
What followed was an intense best-of-three series, where EG beat VG to advance to the lower bracket finals and secure a Top 3 finish at the WePlay AniMajor.
The final match of the day saw PSG.LGD take on T1 in the upper bracket finals. T1 put up an admirable fight and were able to force the series to three games, but PSG.LGD could not be denied from claiming their spot in the grand finals.
Here’s how the matches for the fourth day of the WePlay AniMajor Playoffs went down:
Lower Bracket Round 3:
Evil Geniuses 2-0 Team Nigma
The first series of the day saw EG make short work of Nigma, who seemed shaken after getting knocked down to the lower bracket by PSG.LGD. The North American powerhouse demolished their European opponents in a 30-minute game one then knocked them out of the AniMajor in a 36-minute game two.
Vici Gaming 2-1 Quincy Crew
VG sent Quincy Crew packing in the second of three elimination matches for the day. While Quincy Crew were able to take a quick 24-minute victory in game one, VG outplayed them in the next two games to claim the 2-1 series victory and meet EG in the lower bracket semi-finals.
Lower Bracket Semi-finals:
Evil Geniuses 2-1 Vici Gaming
EG earned their place in the final day of the WePlay AniMajor after they outlasted VG in an intense three-game showdown at the lower bracket semi-finals.
VG struck first blood in the series by taking advantage of EG’s questionable choice to pick a carry Outworld Devourer for Artour “Arteezy” Babaev. EG then tied up the series in a 24-minute game two after they gave Arteezy a more conventional carry hero in Terrorblade and letting midlaner Abed Azel “Abed” Yusop on Templar Assassin run rampant on VG.
EG dominated game three from the get-go behind Arteezy’s Terrorblade, Abed’s Puck, and offlaner Daryl “iceiceice” Koh’s Timbersaw. A resilient VG was able to put up a staunch defence and delay the game to 52 minutes, but they were unable to stop EG from eliminating them and advancing to the lower bracket finals.
Upper Bracket Finals:
PSG.LGD 2-1 T1
The penultimate day of the WePlay AniMajor concluded with a showdown between PSG.LGD and T1 in the upper bracket finals. The Chinese powerhouse easily took game one but their Southeast Asian opponents managed to bounce back in game two and force the series to a game three. Despite T1’s best efforts, PSG.LGD outclassed them in the decider to advance to the grand finals.
With today’s results, Nigma and Quincy Crew exit the WePlay AniMajor in 5th-6th place with US$25,000 and 300 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points. The DPC points that Nigma secured from their Top 6 finish were unfortunately not enough to secure them a direct invite to The International 10 (TI10), with South American squad Thunder Predator taking the 12th direct invite to the tournament instead.
Meanwhile, VG bow out of the AniMajor in fourth place and with US$50,000 and 350 DPC points in consolation.
The final day of the WePlay AniMajor on Sunday (13 June) will start with the lower bracket finals between T1 and EG, with the winners earning the right to advance to the best-of-five grand finals against PSG.LGD. The champions of the AniMajor will walk away with US$200,000 and 500 DPC points.
Read also:
WePlay AniMajor Playoff Preview: The race for TI10 direct invites
WePlay AniMajor: Everything you need to know
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