The fight of the PandaS comes to and end as Nigma moves to playoffs stage!
Group stages at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor came to an end a short time ago and with that there are now only four teams remaining in the tournament who have made their way into the playoffs of the event.
Opening the day at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor we saw Ninjas in Pyjamas being the first team eliminated from the tournament from Group A. Following that it was the winner’s match which came up next and while Geek Fam looked fantastic on day one, Royal Never Give Up breezed passed the Southeast Asians and placed them in a tough elimination battle against Team Spirit. On a high from their victory over NiP, it was expected that Spirit would put up a great fight against GF but that was far from the case as the SEA squad punched their way into the playoffs, sending one of the two home teams packing from the Minor.
Almost gave up our lead, but we came out swinging!#GeekFam #Dota2 #BukovelMinor #WhereGeeksBelong #OnceAGeekAlwaysAFam #LetsGoGeeks pic.twitter.com/GCNKrtlmCA
— Geek Fam (@TeamGeekFam) January 10, 2020
With Group A now decided, it was off to Group B where FURIA Esports had already been eliminated late last night. First up would be the winner’s series which would feature Fighting PandaS and Gambit Esports going head-to-head. While it seemed as though Gambit were heavily on the back foot when they went down in the first game, the CIS squad utilised their essential homeground advantage to come back and claim the top seed in Group B and push FP into rematch against Nigma – this time with elimination on the cards.
The first game of the series was exactly what we’ve come to expect from Nigma with Amer ‘Miracle’ Al-Barkawi on an Anti-Mage and Aliwi ‘w33’ Omar on Windranger. The TI9 runner’s up were methodical as they shutdown their opponent and opened the series with a win. However, game two was a completely different affair as both teams came out fighting and remained almost equal for a long while. But when it came down to it, Miracle’s Terrorblade looked to be the deciding factor as they pushed high ground to take the series – but they counted out Jacky ‘EternaLEnvy’ Mao far too soon.
One slip up from Nigma was all it took for the game to go against them and we were heading to a final and decisive game three to decide who would be heading to playoffs at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor. The final game of the series, while extremely scrappy from both teams, with constant mistakes on either side. Nigma were far ahead but FP’s “never give up” attitude was almost enough to guide them to victory – but unfortunately Nigma were too strong. It took nearly an hour but Nigma would punch their ticket into the Minor playoffs.
With that it would be Nigma joining Gambit Esports, RNG and Geek Fam in the playoffs at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor which begins tomorrow with a flurry of Dota 2 action still coming our way.