Team Falcons and HEROIC won matches Wednesday to clinch advancement to Group Stage 2 at the DreamLeague Season 25.
Falcons (4-1-2) earned a 2-0 victory over 9Pandas (0-5-2) to wind up in third place in Group A after round-robin play in Group Stage 1. HEROIC (4-3-0) took fourth place in Group A following a 2-0 win over Xtreme Gaming (0-5-2).
The event’s 16 teams were divided into two round-robin groups of eight for Group Stage 1, with each match consisting of two maps. The top four squads from Group A and the top four from Group B will move on to Group Stage 2, while the rest of the teams will be eliminated.
Tundra Esports (6-0-1) and BetBoom Team (5-1-1) had already wrapped up the top two places in Group A, and they each recorded a 2-0 win on Wednesday. Tundra dumped Moodeng Warriors (2-5-0), and BetBoom bested Shopify Rebellion (2-3-2).
In Group B, Chimera Esports (3-1-3) and PARIVISION (2-1-4) played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, a result that sealed a playoff berth for both teams. First-place Team Spirit (5-0-2) wrapped up an unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw against Yakult Brothers (1-1-5).
Gaimin Gladiators (2-2-3) posted a 2-0 win over AVULUS (0-5-2), and Team Liquid (1-1-5) drew 1-1 against BOOM Esports (0-3-4). Those results created a three-way tie for the fourth and final qualifying spot for Group B.
Tiebreaker matches will be held Thursday, with Yakult Brothers opposing Team Liquid, and the winner of that contest facing Gaimin Gladiators for the right to move forward.
The eight teams that reach Group Stage 2 will be put into one single round-robin group, where they will face off in best-of-three matches beginning on Friday.
The top two teams from Group Stage 2 will head to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the third- and fourth-place teams will land in the lower bracket, and the remaining teams will be eliminated.
The playoffs begin March 1 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three aside from the grand final on March 2, which is best-of-five. The winning team gets $250,000 and a club reward of $40,000. There will also be 20,440 ESL Pro Tour points distributed to the participants.
In Wednesday action, Team Falcons handled 9Pandas in 34 minutes and 31 minutes, both on green. Slovakia’s Oliver “skiter” Lepko paced Falcons with an average 8.5/2.0/13.5 kill-death-assist ratio.
HEROIC opened with a 42-minute victory on red before closing out Xtreme Gaming with a 42-minute win on green. Nicaragua’s Yuma “Yuma” Langlet wound up at 9.5/2.5/16.0 for HEROIC.
DreamLeague Season 25 Group Stage 1 standings (match record W-L-T, map record)
Group A
1. Tundra Esports, 6-0-1, 13-1
2. BetBoom Team, 5-1-1, 11-3
3. Team Falcons, 4-1-2, 10-4
4. HEROIC, 4-3-0, 8-6
5. Shopify Rebellion, 2-3-2, 6-8
6. Moodeng Warriors, 2-5-0, 4-10
7. Xtreme Gaming, 0-5-2, 2-12
8. 9Pandas, 0-5-2, 2-12
Group B
1. Team Spirit, 5-0-2, 12-2
2. Chimera Esports, 3-1-3, 9-5
3. PARIVISION, 2-1-4, 8-6
T4. Gaimin Gladiators, 2-2-3, 7-7
T4. Team Liquid, 1-1-5, 7-7
T4. Yakult Brothers, 1-1-5, 7-7
7. BOOM Esports, 0-3-4, 4-10
8. AVULUS, 0-5-2, 2-12
DreamLeague Season 25 prize pool (cash winning, EPT points, club reward)
1. $250,000, TBD, $40,000
2. $100,000, TBD, $30,000
3. $80,000, TBD, $25,000
4. $60,000, TBD, $20,000
5. $40,000, TBD, $15,000
6. $35,000, TBD, $15,000
7. $30,000, TBD, $12,500
8. $25,000, TBD, $12,500
9-10. $20,000, 350 points, $10,000
11-12. $17,500, 175 points, $10,000
13-14. $15,000, 98 points, $10,000
15-16. $10,000, 42 points, $10,000
–Field Level Media
