Alliance Defeat OG, Earning a Spot in the ESL One Germany Playoffs

Alliance nikobaby
Image credit: GamerzClass

ESL One Germany is going in full swing and Alliance were the first team to make it to the playoffs after defeating OG yesterday.

The group stage of Dota 2's ESL One Germany is a bit different than what we’ve seen in the past. The modified version of the Swiss system means thatteams stop playing when they reach 3 wins or 3 losses. Alliance was the first team to get 3 wins and 0 losses, thus earning a place in the playoffs. Their finally victory came yesterday in the series against OG.

Alliance Best OG

While OG were the favorites, ESL One Germany has clearly shown us that this means nothing unless you’re Team Secret. OG went on to take the first map with a convincing lead and a Phantom Assassin that went out of control. With a Magnus and an Invoker behind the PA, her damage was insane and Alliance could do little to come back.

In game two of the series, OG decided to pick the same heroes, relying once again on a PA. This time though, Alliance were ready to retaliate with heroes that were either overflowing with armor or had ways to avoid physical damage. Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov was the top performer of the game with his 14/1/11 Morphling.

Game three was to decide the winner and we finally saw some new heroes get picked. The match went heavily in favor of Alliance as Gustav “s4” Magnusson’s Nature’s Prophet went out of control. Nikobaby was also quite ahead on his Faceless Void and OG’s only hope laid with Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng’s Arc Warden.

Alliance took the series 2:1 and can now take a well-deserved week of rest until the start of the playoffs (October 23).

Yellow Submarine Defeat Ninjas in Pyjamas

Another interesting series happened just before the match between OG and Alliance. NiP lost 1-2 to Yellow Submarine. The latter surprised Dota 2 fans when they managed to defeat Team Nigma last week. YS are currently on par with OG and mudgolems with 2 wins and 1 loss. The team is just a step away from making it into the playoffs and that certainly wasn’t something many of us expected.

EXTREMUM and Tempo Esports reached 3 losses and we won’t be seeing them again for the duration of the event. The tournament continues today with more series:

  • Vikin.gg vs. 5men – 14:00 CEST
  • Na’Vi vs. Winstrike Team – 17:00 CEST
  • Team Secret vs. Team Liquid – 20:00 CEST

Both Secret and Liquid are just one win away from the playoffs and one of them will make it. The other will have another shot a few days later. You can catch the action on the official ESL Twitch channel.

Stay tuned for more Dota 2 news and check out EarlyGame or the EarlyGame Youtube channel for everything gaming and esports.

Tasho Tashev

Law graduate from Sofia University turned gaming journalist. Gaming has always been a passion of mine since I was a kid (shocker I know) so it was only a matter of time before I started writing about it. My high-school...