Evil Geniuses and Fnatic headline qualifiers to ESL LA major
Evil Geniuses, Thunder Predator, Fnatic, and Geek Fam are the teams who have first qualified for ESL One Los Angeles.
As expected, Evil Geniuses dominated the North America region. The team under the captaincy of Tal “Fly” Aizik had a flawless run in the group stage of the closed qualifier.
Evil Geniuses started strong in the playoffs with a clean 2-0 finish against the team of Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao. EG advanced to the upper bracket finals and knocked down Chaos Esports Club to take the first ticket to ESL One Los Angeles.
Recently, Evil Geniuses fell short in the grand finals of DreamLeague Season 13. The powerhouse team is poised to come back stronger in the third major Dota Pro Circuit tournament of the season.
Chaos Esports Club came out victorious in the series against Business Associates. In doing so, Chaos took the last spot in the NA region.
In the South America region, Thunder Predator surprised fans with its impressive run in the closed qualifier. The team had a longer run than the direct invitees as the team earned its regional qualifier spot through the open qualifier.
Thunder Predator bested teams such as Pain Gaming and beastcoast. The team secured a ticker to ESL One Los Angeles after a 2-0 win against beastcoast.
Beastcoast dominated the lower bracket finals against FURIA Esports to successfully qualify for the third major as well.
The Southeast Asia closed qualifier showcased exciting games and surprising upsets.
TNC Predator holds the top spot in the Dota Pro Circuit ranking. The team may not hold it for much longer, as it failed to qualify for ESL Los Angeles.
Fnatic struggled a bit in the group stage but was able to win a series against Team Adroit in the playoffs. However, Team Adroit suffered from connectivity issues causing the team to forfeit the first game.
Meanwhile, Geek Fam brought its A-game during the entire closed qualifier. The team has marked its first qualification in a major tournament after its superlative play. Geek Fam is the current team of the former TNC Predator player Carlo “Kuku” Palad.
After an anticlimactic series against Fnatic, Team Adroit bested IO Dota2 to secure the last spot for Southeast Asian teams.
China’s regional qualifier started on February 14 and features teams such as Invictus Gaming, Team Aster, and Newbee.
After winning DreamLeague Season 13, Vici Gaming decided to skip ESL One Los Angeles to give its players a break.
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