The first big tournament of the post-TI Dota 2 season has its first two playoff teams. After three rounds of the Swiss-system group stage at PGL Wallachia Season 9 in Bucharest, Team Yandex and Xtreme Gaming both sit at a perfect 3-0 and have locked in their spots in the eight-team double-elimination bracket. Two teams are already out, and the remaining twelve are fighting over the last six playoff places on September 22 and 23.
Yandex Make ATF’s Debut Look Easy
Team Yandex arrived in Romania as the roster everyone wanted to see. Offlaner ATF joined the team only days before the event, replacing DM, and the question was whether a lineup with so little practice time could compete against the field. The answer so far has been emphatic. Yandex beat MOUZ 2-1 in the opening round, then swept Team Nemesis 2-0 and, in the 2-0 pool decider, took down Natus Vincere 2-0 as well. That is six games won out of seven, with the only lost map coming in the very first series.
The lineup of watson, CHIRA_JUNIOR, ATF, Saksa and Malady combines a TI-winning offlaner with a core that already played together, and the early results suggest the pieces fit. NAVI, who had looked sharp with 2-0 wins over Hokori and Aurora Gaming, simply had no answer on Monday night.
Xtreme Gaming Roll Past LGD’s New Look
On the other side of the bracket, Xtreme Gaming are quietly matching Yandex step for step. The Chinese side, built around Ame, Xm, zeal, XinQ and BoBoKa, opened with a 2-0 over Pibbles Corp., edged Conventus Stellarum 2-1 and then dismantled LGD Gaming 2-0 in the third-round showdown between the two unbeaten Chinese teams.
That LGD result is the most interesting one of the group stage so far. LGD had assembled a headline roster with SumaiL and Sneyking alongside Wits, Davai and Thiolicor, and they started well with wins over Yakult Brothers and GamerLegion. Against Xtreme Gaming, however, the new lineup was clearly a step behind, and LGD now sit at 2-1 with a must-win series against Aurora Gaming on Tuesday.
Who Is Still in the Hunt
Six teams are tied at 2-1 and playing for direct qualification in Round 4: Team Nemesis face GamerLegion, NAVI meet 1w Team, and LGD take on Aurora. The winners of those three matches will join Yandex and Xtreme in the playoffs. The losers drop to 2-2 and get one final chance in Round 5 on Wednesday.
At the bottom, PlayTime and Pibbles Corp. have been eliminated at 0-3, with Pibbles yet to win a single map. The six teams at 1-2 — Conventus Stellarum, Pipsqueak+4, MOUZ, Hokori, Team Cobra and Yakult Brothers — still have a path to the bracket, but it runs through two consecutive elimination series.
Betting Angle
Yandex and Xtreme Gaming will now start the playoffs as clear favourites, and the odds on both have shortened sharply since the event began. For anyone looking at the bracket, the more attractive prices are likely to be on the 2-1 teams that qualify in Round 4 — a NAVI or LGD side that has already shown it can beat good opponents will be priced well below the two unbeaten teams. If you are planning to back a bracket run, it is worth comparing the esports bookmakers covering the event, as Dota 2 playoff markets can vary noticeably between sites. Newer bettors can also cut the risk of a first playoff punt by claiming one of the current welcome bonuses first.
PGL Wallachia Season 9 runs until September 27, with a $300,000 first prize from the $1 million pool. The playoffs begin on September 24, with every series a best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.
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