The Survival Stage wrapped up with the four remaining quarterfinal spots on the line, and none of the four series made it easy. Team Spirit needed three games to get past Team Liquid, Vici Gaming came back from the brink to eliminate 1W, and Rune Eaters kept their giant-killing run alive against Aurora Gaming. Only BB Team's sweep of LGD Gaming was straightforward. With the bracket now complete, the quarterfinals begin later today.
Team Spirit Edge Team Liquid 2-1
This was the closest series of the day, and Spirit came in as the underdog on paper for all three games. They didn't play like it. Game 1 was over fast, a 47-21 rout with Yatoro going 10/1/9 on Tiny and Larl matching him stat for stat on Lina, 10/1/10. Team Liquid had entered that draft favored at 73%, and it didn't matter.
Liquid hit back in Game 2, this time backing up their 71% draft edge. Nisha's Ember Spirit ran the show at 10/5/8, with miCKe's Spectre and tOfu's Witch Doctor rounding out a 40-38 win to force a decider.
Game 3 belonged to Spirit again. Yatoro switched over to Gyrocopter and posted 7/1/7, while Collapse's Centaur Warrunner and Larl's Earth Spirit held the line through the mid game. Spirit closed it out 32-14, the cleanest map of the series, to send Liquid home.
| Game | Result |
|---|---|
| Game 1 | Team Spirit won 47-21 |
| Game 2 | Team Liquid won 40-38 |
| Game 3 | Team Spirit won 32-14 |
| Series Winner | Team Spirit (2-1) |
BB Team Sweep LGD Gaming
BB Team's path to the quarterfinals was the tidiest of the day. LGD held the higher draft probability in both games and lost both anyway. Gpk put up an 18.0 KDA on Lina in Game 1, with Kiritych's Clinkz and MieRo's Enigma winning the fights that decided a 34-17 result.
Game 2 followed the same pattern. Kiritych moved to Kez and Gpk to Invoker, and between the two of them BB Team never let LGD back into the game, closing it out 32-7 to complete the sweep. LGD's Esports World Cup run ends here.
| Game | Result |
|---|---|
| Game 1 | BB Team won 34-17 |
| Game 2 | BB Team won 32-7 |
| Series Winner | BB Team (2-0) |
Rune Eaters Keep the Run Going, Sweep Aurora Gaming
Rune Eaters have been the story of this Survival Stage, and their win over Aurora Gaming, world No. 5 by most rankings, is the biggest scalp yet. This is the same Kazakhstan side that knocked out Virtus.pro earlier in the stage, and going into this one they were still the less-fancied team.
Game 1 favored Rune Eaters at 74% in the draft, and they backed it up. Malik's Lycan and Copy's Ember Spirit did the early damage, and Darklord's Lifestealer took over from there as the game reached its late stages, closing out a 37-20 win. Aurora's Mikoto had a solid game on Viper, but it wasn't close to enough.
Game 2 was more of the same. A 75% draft edge, and Rune Eaters played to it cleanly. Aik went 7/5/7 on Lich, Malik moved to Snapfire, Copy to Earth Spirit, and the sweep was complete at 37-19. Aurora never found an answer after dropping the opener. For Rune Eaters, this locks in the organization's first-ever Top 8 finish at a Tier 1 Dota 2 event.
| Game | Result |
|---|---|
| Game 1 | Rune Eaters won 37-20 |
| Game 2 | Rune Eaters won 37-19 |
| Series Winner | Rune Eaters (2-0) |
Vici Gaming Reverse Sweep 1W for the Final Spot
The last quarterfinal spot came down to the last series of the day, and it went the full distance. 1W took Game 1 as the slight favorite at 56%, and Pure's Templar Assassin made it count with a spotless 6/0/2 KDA. 33's Centaur Warrunner and bzm's Earth Spirit helped close it out 35-10. Vici, with shiro on Tiny and Xm on Puck, never got going.
Facing elimination in Game 2, Vici turned it around completely. 1W still held the draft edge at 57%, but shiro's Lina went 9/1/2 and dragged Vici back into the series with Xm's Earthshaker adding weight to a 31-14 win that forced a third game.
Game 3 was tighter than the first two, but Vici carried their momentum straight through it. Shiro switched back to Tiny and finished 8/1/8 with more than 34,000 net worth, while Xm's Earth Spirit and XinQ's Zeus kept the follow-up coming in the late game. Vici closed it out 36-27 to complete the reverse sweep, ending 1W's run and booking a quarterfinal date with Team Falcons.
| Game | Result |
|---|---|
| Game 1 | 1W won 35-10 |
| Game 2 | Vici Gaming won 31-14 |
| Game 3 | Vici Gaming won 36-27 |
| Series Winner | Vici Gaming (2-1) |
Quarterfinal Schedule
With the Survival Stage complete, the bracket is set. The quarterfinals get underway today, July 16, with two best-of-three series:
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 4:30 PM | Nigma Galaxy vs BB Team |
| 8:00 PM | Team Falcons vs Vici Gaming |
The remaining quarterfinals follow as the tournament moves toward Championship Sunday.
Survival Stage Results
| Match | Result |
|---|---|
| Team Spirit vs Team Liquid | Team Spirit won 2-1 |
| BB Team vs LGD Gaming | BB Team won 2-0 |
| Rune Eaters vs Aurora Gaming | Rune Eaters won 2-0 |
| Vici Gaming vs 1W | Vici Gaming won 2-1 |
Final Thoughts
The Survival Stage is done, and it delivered right up until the last map. Three of the four series here went the distance, and the one that didn't, BB Team's sweep of LGD, was arguably the most one-sided result of the day. Rune Eaters are the name to watch heading into the quarterfinals. A team that started the tournament as an afterthought has now beaten Virtus.pro and Aurora Gaming back to back, and they've already guaranteed themselves a Top 8 finish before playing another map.
Editor's note: Respawnerz will have coverage of both quarterfinal series as they happen, with recaps and results posted here as the bracket progresses toward Championship Sunday.
