Vici and Nigma secure top two spots at Animajor Wild Card. They move on to the group stage. Nigma secured the final spot after a tie-breaker against Singapore Major Champions Invictus Gaming.
The Animajor Wild card has come to an end. Judging from the competition, the group stage should be hyper competitive. Team Secret, long the terror of Eastern Europe, was knocked out in their first game against IG. With a win against Secret, IG made their way to a tiebreaker match against Nigma for the second wild card slot. With the results of the tiebreaker in, these are the teams you will see in the group stage.
Vici Gaming dominates Animajor Wild Card
Vici have come out of this wild card stage looking like the strongest team of the group. Despite being a competitive wild card, Vici have managed to look dominant in many of their games. Along with Nigma, the are the only team to have 2 series wins. They have also not lost a series. The first win, perhaps not a surprise, taking out AS Monaco Gambit, while the second, completely dominating previous major winner IG.
All across the board, the Vici players have played exceptionally, but they have had standouts. Ren " Old eLeVeN" Yangwei, has had incredible impact on both his Doom and Mars, getting pickoffs and in one case holding the high ground. Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang both took over games and was a consistent boon to his teammates in the midlane.
Having gotten into the top 8 at the last major, Vici should have a great chance of placing again, and getting the points they need to qualify to TI.
Team Nigma secures group stage after intense tie-breaker versus IG
Coming off the back of an insane tiebreaker match, Team Nigma have qualified for the group stage of the major in spectacular fashion. Their Animajor wild card performance was one of the best, losing only to IG and beating Execration and AS Monaco Gambit. Nigma’s incredible draft with a Luna last pick was able to clutch out a series win against their Wild card rivals IG.
Though the whole team played well, they also had stand out players. Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi, back to mid and playing heroes like his famous Invoker, made moves and plays that helped shut down key heroes and protect important cores. Maroun "GH" Merhej, played out of his mind the entire tournament, picking up the clutch Elder Titan in the last game, and incredible save heroes during the tournament.
The team had a struggle through the Wildcard stage where they had to face tough opponents but also server crashes.Having fought tooth and nail in this wild card, Nigma need to do well in this tournament to secure a place at The International.
What's Next at the Animajor?
In the next few days these two teams will compete with the rest of the group stage teams. Judging by the wild card, we are in for a real treat with these upcoming matches. With their track record, both teams have a shot to place well in the tournament.
The group stage will see eight teams competing in yet another best-of-two round-robin format. Two teams will face elimination from the group stage while the rest move on to the playoffs. The WePlay Animajor is the final chance for Dota 2 teams to earn DPC points to qualify for The International.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Dota 2 news and updates.