The group stage of the PGL Wallachia Season 9 Dota 2 LAN tournament has concluded at the PGL Studio in Bucharest. Sixteen teams competed in a Swiss-system format featuring Bo3 series for the right to advance to the next stage and compete for the $1,000,000 prize pool. Based on the group stage results, the top eight teams have been finalized to continue their run in the playoffs, while the remaining participants have been eliminated from the tournament.
Undefeated with a 3-0 record, Team Yandex and Xtreme Gaming successfully cleared the Swiss group stage. Natus Vincere, Aurora Gaming, and GamerLegion also confidently advanced to the playoffs, finishing the group with a 3-1 score. The final three playoff spots were secured in a tense battle by Team Nemesis, LGD Gaming, and 1w Team, finishing with a 3-2 record. Meanwhile, Pipsqueak+4, MOUZ, and Conventus Stellarum took 9th–11th place ($20,000); Team Cobra, Hokori, and Yakult Brothers finished 12th–14th ($15,000); and Pibbles Corp and PlayTime ended their tournament run in 15th–16th place ($10,000).
The performance of the Ukrainian club Natus Vincere deserves special attention, as they confidently advanced to the playoffs, taking 3rd place in the group standings with a final series record of 3-1 (6-3 in maps). The team began the tournament with clean 2:0 victories over Hokori and Aurora Gaming, subsequently fell to Team Yandex (0:2), and in their decisive fourth round, defeated 1w Team 2:1 to guarantee a spot in the upper bracket.
The decisive playoff stage will be held in a Double-Elimination format, where all matches will be Bo3, while the champion and winner of the $300,000 grand prize will be determined in a Bo5 Grand Final.
The playoffs kick off today at 10:00 with the upper bracket quarterfinal match between Xtreme Gaming and Team Nemesis. Natus Vincere will also begin their playoff journey today at 13:00 in a matchup against LGD Gaming.
The official English broadcast of the tournament will take place on the PGL YouTube channel.
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