Win.gg
Dota 2
Virtus.pro, Team Secret go undefeated in ESL One LA group stage Virtus.pro, Team Secret go undefeated in ESL One LA group stage
Virtus.pro and Team Secret have ended the ESL One Los Angeles Europe and CIS league’s group stage with perfect 7-0 records.
Virtus.pro is peaking right now. After several roster shakeups and underwhelming tournament results, the Russian team is finally bringing its A-game. The team was grouped with back-to-back The International champions OG and Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi’s Team Nigma. Despite that stiff competition, Virtus.pro posted an impressive 7-0 score in the group stage.
OG came in second with a 5-2 record. OG performed very well, considering the team competed with Neta “33” Shapira and Sébastien “Ceb” Debs as stand-ins, with Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen and Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng separated from the team due to the COVID-19 situation.
Meanwhile, Team Nigma and Vikin.gg will advance to the lower bracket playoffs. Danil “Dendi” Ishutin’s team B8 faced an early exit together with HellRaisers, Cyber Legacy, and Gambit Esports.
Team Secret finished as Group A’s top seed
As expected,
Team Secret had a dominant run in Group B. The team managed to keep its original roster together despite the transition to regional online leagues.
Team Secret pulled off five 2-0 sweeps in the group stage. The team dropped single maps to Team Spirit and Chicken Fighters but came out victorious in the end. The team came in the tournament as a heavy favorite and its fans expect nothing less than a top finish.
Team Spirit surprised fans by securing an upper bracket spot. The next move for Mihail “Misha” Agatov’s team is to end the tournament in a decent spot. This is the redemption the team badly needs.
Alliance and Chicken Fighters will play for their tournament lives in the do-or-die lower bracket series. Several fan favorites had to bid goodbye, including Team Unique, Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Natus Vincere.
The ESL One Los Angeles’ combined Europe and CIS regional league was arguably the toughest battlefield among other regions. The team who will claim the tournament title can be reckoned as one of the world’s best Dota 2 team.
Nina Forneloza
About Nina Forneloza
Nina Forneloza is a huge fan of gaming, but her favorite genres of games above all other are gacha games, first-person shooting games, and role-playing games. When she isn’t looking for a lucky pull in the latest gacha, you’re likely to find her in a competitive Valorant lobby or playing the latest big single-player RPG. Either way, you can be assured that she’ll be into it and ready to write about the experience.
View full profile
Read Also
Dota 2
ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel
Michael Hassall
South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan "Vintage" Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation. ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a ...
News
Polystrike Turns a Dota 2 Mod Into a Standalone Tactical Shooter
Hannan Mundia
After the community-made mod found success within the community, developer and publisher Robin Entertainment has decided to turn Polystrike into a proper standalone game. Community-made mods of games finding success within the respective game’s community is nothing new. However, only a handful of those mods are able to go on and become a standalone game. One of the more recent examples is The Forgotten City, which started as a mod ...
Dota 2
Team Spirit wins TI15 to lift a record third Aegis of Champions
Michael Hassall
Team Spirit has defeated TEAM VISION in the grand finals of TI15, The International 2025. In a full five-game series on Aug. 23, Spirit pulled out all the stops and narrowly defeated an incredible VISION team in a back-and-forth series in Shanghai, China. With Spirit’s victory, Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov become the first ever three-time TI champions, and Team Spirit becomes the first ever organization to lift ...
Dota 2
The International 2026 (TI15) Finals Preview and Predictions
Michael Hassall
The International 2026, TI15, has reached its final day, and just three teams remain in the fight for the Aegis of Champions. With the lower bracket final and Grand Final still to come, everything comes down to one final day of Dota 2 action. The lower bracket finalists will first battle for the right to reach the main event’s final series, while the winner will advance to face the upper-bracket ...
Dota 2
TI15’s opening ceremony weaves a tapestry of emotion for Valve’s storied title
Michael Hassall
The main stage of The International 2026, TI15, kicked off today with the traditional opening ceremony heralding the start of the biggest celebration of Dota 2 on the calendar. On Aug. 20 fans in Shanghai, China, and at home, were treated to a rousing 11-minute series of performances and video packages, introducing TI15’s main stage show. Here’s how the magic unfolded: The ceremony began with a graphic which quite literally ...
Dota 2
The International 2026 (TI15) Playoffs preview and predictions
Michael Hassall
The Group Stage of The International 2026, TI15, is in the books and we’ve whittled down 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams to just eight finalists. One of these talented lineups will be the ones lifting the Aegis of Champions come Sunday, Aug. 23, but until then, there’s plenty of playoff shenanigans that could go on. Below we’ve put together a preview of the upcoming Playoff Games, along ...
News
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027
Ben Boland
The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...
