LGD, Team Liquid, Rune Eaters stay alive at Esports World Cup Dota event

Field Level Media|published: Tue 14th July, 21:57 2026

YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year.

LGD Gaming, Team Liquid and Rune Eaters won their opening matches of the survival stage Tuesday to move one win away from the Dota 2 playoffs at the Esports World Cup in Paris.

LGD blanked MOUZ 2-0, while Team Liquid rallied 2-1 past Xtreme Gaming and Rune Eaters did the same against Virtus.pro. MOUZ, Xtreme and Virtus.pro were eliminated.

There's one more Round 1 match in the survival stage slated for Wednesday morning, pitting Vici Gaming against PlayTime, before Round 2 commences featuring four teams that received first-round byes.

The Dota 2 event at the Esports World Cup is the final championship of the ESL Pro Tour, now in its fourth season. The tournament has a $2 million prize pool, with $750,000 and 1,000 club points going to the first-place team.

The format consists of three phases: a group stage of 24 teams that competed in a round robin, a survival phase (Tuesday-Wednesday) formatted into a single-elimination bracket that will see four teams advance, then a final playoff stage (Thursday-Sunday), which is single elimination.

The four group winners advanced directly to the playoffs. Teams finishing second in their groups received byes into Round 2 of the survival stage, while third- and fourth-place teams began the survival stage in Round 1.

All matches in Phase 1 were two games, while the matches in Phases 2 and 3 are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.

On Tuesday, LGD prevailed in 35 minutes against MOUZ before winning a marathon second map in 63 minutes, playing both times on red.

Team Liquid and Xtreme Gaming had a far longer affair. Xtreme took the opening map in 69 minutes on green, then Liquid grinded out a 94-minute result on green before closing out the match in 41 minutes, again on green.

Virtus.pro opened with a 46-minute victory on red, but Rune Eaters responded with a 64-minute triumph on green and sealed their advancement with a 39-minute win, also on green.

The Esports World Cup features competition in 25 titles and a $75 million prize pool. Other upcoming events include League of Legends, PUBG, EA Sports FC, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Rocket League, Counter-Strike 2 and Fortnite.

Wednesday's schedule:

--Vici Gaming vs. PlayTime (Round 1)

--BetBoom Team vs. LGD Gaming (Round 2)

--Team Spirit vs. Team Liquid (Round 2)

--Aurora Gaming vs. Rune Eaters (Round 2)

--1w vs. Vici Gaming/PlayTime (Round 2)

Dota 2 Esports World Cup payouts (prize money, club points)

1. $750,000, 1,000 -- TBD

2. $340,000, 750 -- TBD

3. $200,000, 500 -- TBD

4. $120,000, 300 -- TBD

5-8. $70,000, 200 -- TBD