Team Secret and Virtus Pro first teams to advance to Kiev Major playoffs

The first two teams have secured their spots in the Kiev Major playoffs.

Team Secret and Virtus Pro have secured their spots in the Kiev Major playoffs after a flawless performance throughout the first three rounds of the group stage.

Since the event features a swiss format group stage, the four undefeated teams from the first day were pitted against each other today, with Virtus Pro and TNC started off the action.

The first game between the two teams certainly didn’t disappoint. Both struggled to close things out for 75 minutes. Due to TNC’s Carlo “Kuku” Palad’s Tinker constantly pushing out creep waves across the map, Virtus Pro struggled to breach the base of the Filipino squad for the majority of the game, while TNC could siege their opponents’ base efficiently. But despite destroying two sets of barracks, Virtus Pro began winning teamfights more and more decisively, bringing the game into the Russian team’s favor. Finally, with no buyback remaining on any of their core heroes, TNC had to concede the first game of the series after roughly 75 minutes of play.

The second game of the series was a lot more one-sided Virtus Pro’s favor. Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko’s Phantom Assassin faced almost no resistance through the early stages of the game, and proceeded to dominate TNC— earning No[o]ne a total of 13 kills, and Virtus Pro the first spot in the tournament playoffs.

A pretty big upset followed in the second qualification match, as tournament favorites Invictus Gaming were defeated by Team Secret in two straight games. Meaning Invictus Gaming will not be able to enter the playoffs with the highest possible seed.

While the group stage isn’t over just yet, it seems as if the Kiev Major will be remembered as a tournament of upsets.