Team Liquid, OG, Newbee, and Evil Geniuses fans can breathe a sigh of relief.
All four teams successfully navigated their way through the lower bracket in yesterday’s group stage action at ESL One Katowice. Except for OG, each team won their matches without losing a single game.
Maroun “GH” Merhej stole the spotlight with an outstanding performance on his signature Keeper of the Light against OpTic Gaming. GH demonstrated why you should never let KotL through the draft against Liquid.
KotL’s counterpush with Illuminate proved too much for OpTic’s late game, followed by Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi’s push with Terrorblade.
All four lineups are now one step closer to the playoffs, but they must now battle each other for qualification points in The International 8. OG will face off against Liquid for the first spot in the quarterfinals, while EG, Team Kinguin, LGD Gaming, and Newbee will fight for survival in the final round of Group B.
In the upper bracket, Vici Gaming will be tested against the strong Virtus Pro, while Fnatic takes on Team Secret. Secret and VP are expected to easily secure the semifinal seeds due to their skill and consistency.
However, considering that VG sent Liquid to the lower bracket, they clearly came to this event prepared. VP might not have a smooth ride, especially if VG can maintain their momentum and face them confidently.
Abed “Abed” Yusop will need to perform some real magic for Fnatic to overthrow Secret. Puppey and his teammates have been unstoppable in the tournament, winning every game they’ve played so far. It seems they’re already on track to win the whole event.
The third day of ESL One Katowice starts at 5am CT.