Virtus.pro and Twisted Minds each pulled off two straight wins Friday to run through the lower brackets of their respective groups and clinch playoff berths at the Overwatch Champions Series’ Midseason Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Team Liquid and Geekay Esports joined Virtus.pro and Twisted Minds to round out the field of eight that will continue on in the marquee event. The four group winners from Friday’s action — Team Falcons, Crazy Raccoon, Al Qadsiah and T1 — had previously secured their spots.
The $1 million tournament is part of the Esports World Cup.
The 16 teams were divided into four groups for the double-elimination preliminary round. The initial matches were best-of-three, and all subsequent group-stage matches are best-of-five. The top two teams in each group clinched playoff spots.
The single-elimination playoffs will include best-of-five quarterfinals and semifinals ahead of the best-of-seven final on Sunday.
The championship team will earn $400,000 plus 1,000 Esports World Cup club points. The runner-up will receive $180,000 and 750 EWC club points.
On Friday, Virtus.pro began in the Group A lower-bracket semifinal and got past AG.AL 3-0. Virtus.pro won 2-1 on Lijiang Tower Control, 3-2 on Circuit Royal Escort and 102.89 meters to 83.15 meters on Esperanca Push.
That set Virtus.pro up against Weibo Gaming, who defeated them 2-1 in the upper bracket on the opening day. Virtus.pro got their revenge with a back-and-forth 3-2 victory in the lower-bracket final. They won 2-1 on Oasis Control, fell 107.11 meters to 103.45 meters on Esperanca Push, pulled out a 1-0 win on Circuit Royal Escort, lost 3-1 on Aatlis Flashpoint and prevailed in the do-or-die fifth map, 2-1 on Midtown Hybrid.
Twisted Minds had a similar path out of Group D. They started the day in the lower-bracket semifinal and swept The Gatos Guapos 3-0. Twisted Minds scored wins of 2-0 on Lijiang Tower Control, 3-2 on Watchpoint: Gibraltar Escort and 3-0 on Aatlis Flashpoint.
Then, Twisted Minds made it two straight sweeps when they beat Sign Esports in the lower-bracket final. TM started with a pair of shutouts, 2-0 on Lijiang Control and 3-0 on Aatlis Flashpoint, before finishing the job 4-3 on Shambali Monastery Escort.
In Group B, VARREL defeated ROC Esports 3-2 in the lower-bracket semifinal to advance to face Team Liquid. Liquid cleaned up with a 3-0 sweep in that final, prevailing 2-0 on Lijiang Tower Control, 3-1 on Circuit Royal Escort and 3-0 on Aatlis Flashpoint.
In Group C, Team CC advanced past ZoKorp Esports 3-0 in the lower-bracket semis and had a five-map fight with Geekay Esports. Geekay opened with a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower Control, fell 5-4 on Watchpoint: Gibraltar Escort, won 3-2 on Midtown Hybrid, lost 3-1 on New Junk City Flashpoint and dominated the final map, Colosseo Push, 127.23 meters to 69.84 meters for the victory.
The tournament continues Saturday with the four quarterfinal matches:
–Crazy Raccoon vs. Twisted Minds
–Al Qadsiah vs. Virtus.pro
–T1 vs. Team Liquid
–Team Falcons vs. Geekay Esports
Overwatch Champions Series’ Midseason Championship prize pool, with money winnings and Esports World Cup club points
1. $400,000, 1,000 points
2. $180,000, 750 points
3. $100,000, 500 points
4. $60,000, 300 points
5-8. $35,000, 200 points
9-12. $20,000, no points — Weibo Gaming, VARREL, Team CC, Sign Esports
13-16. $10,000, no points — AG.AL, ROC Esports, ZoKorp Esports, The Gatos Guapos
–Field Level Media
