Dota 2 at the Esports World Cup just finished the second day of its group stage, and already we’ve got a participating team relegated to the elimination phase this early on. Virtus.pro (VP), with their 0-4 record in maps after two days, are now mathematically guaranteed to have to play in the next stage of the tournament, and will miss out on the opportunity to skip the aforementioned elimination phase.

Esports World Cup Dota 2: VP already relegated, Liquid storm out of the gate

Meanwhile, Team Liquid have come out roaring out of the blocks, doing the exact opposite of what VP did by putting in a perfect 4-0 run thus far. Aside from these two squads, there’s also a surprising development in another group, which we’ll get to in a bit.

The Prancing Horses

Okay, if there are any fellow Formula 1 fans out there, forgive me for using the Ferrari name above, because it’s true that Liquid are on a tear right now in the group stage. They put Shopify Rebellion away in two highly convincing games as one might expect, but what I personally didn’t expect was that they would also beat PARIVISION today in the same manner.

Perhaps I should have, because according to Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek in his post-game interview with Kevin “Purge” Godec, Liquid are now 7-0 against PARIVISION since the start of FISSURE Universe Episode 5. Against what could very well be the best team in the world, that quite the impressive statistic.

Anyway, the way in which they dismantled PARIVISION was just awe-inspiring. They drafted the offlane Venomancer once again for SabeRLight-, which worked to perfection against their opponents’ Terrorblade and Doom-based lineup. The selection effectively punished the greed displayed by PARIVISION, and they were able to just run them over in 25 minutes of play.

This game would set the tone for the rest of the series, because Liquid would not allow PARIVISION to blemish their head-to-head winning streak in the following game. An impressive first two days for Liquid, for sure. They’ve now got more momentum than any other team in the field, and given that they’re facing HEROIC on the 11th, I fully expect them to skip straight to the playoffs once they’re done there.

Virtus.no

Sadly, it’s not been so great for Virtus.pro, as I alluded to earlier. I expected that they wouldn’t do well at this tournament, but honestly, I thought they’d be in a better spot than this — considering that Team Yandex are in this tournament and in their group. But speaking of Yandex, they were actually the ones to put VP where they are now, because amazingly enough, VP lost to Yandex in two games.

And they didn’t even stand a chance, mind you. Both games ended in under 40 minutes, with the first one clocking in at just 32 and a half. And before that series, they got walloped by Tundra Esports, which of course is nothing shocking considering the huge disparity in talent, experience, and results between the two.

So, yeah, they’re now for sure going to have to go through the elimination phase, where they will face the eventual third placers of Group C — which I’m expected will be Yandex at the end of the group stage. And, uh, that doesn’t bode well for VP’s survival in this tournament, because if they can’t even manage to split the series with Yandex, they’ll be in trouble if they have to play them again for their tournament lives.

Falcons down on home soil

Now for the surprising development I was talking about: Team Falcons are now 1-3 in maps — which I’m sure is already disappointing their Saudi Arabian benefactors. They managed to salvage their first day by going 1-1 against Execration after losing the first map in that series, but then proceeded to embarrass themselves against BetBoom Team the following day.

There really shouldn’t have been a scenario where they had to settle for a 1-1 result against Execration, but here they are now, tied with that very same team for third place in Group B. They’re going up against Gaimin Gladiators tomorrow, which could honestly go either way — but the eye test does indeed confirm that Falcons aren’t in their best form right now.

They aren’t drafting very well, their execution is lacking, and even when their opponents try their absolute hardest to give them a free win, like when BetBoom Team nearly threw away the second game in their series today, they just can’t seem to find a way to punch through. I’m starting to get worried about where they’re at mentally — and should they not even make it to the podium here, I think heads might just roll.