Liquid, Falcons move on to upper-bracket final at PGL Wallachia 3

Team Liquid and Team Falcons advanced to the upper-bracket final at PGL Wallachia Season 3 by winning their respective semifinals on Friday in Bucharest, Romania.

Liquid swept Xtreme Gaming 2-0, and Falcons came from behind for a 2-1 victory over Tundra Esports.

The lower bracket of the playoff stage also began Friday, with Aurora Gaming eliminating Team Tidebound 2-1 and Team Spirit knocking out Gaimin Gladiators by the same score.

The $1 million Dota 2 tournament began last weekend and runs through Sunday. All matches in the double-elimination playoffs are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five. The championship team will earn $300,000.

On Friday, Liquid defeated Xtreme in 55 minutes on red and 60 minutes on green. Michal "Nisha" Jankowski of Poland averaged a 15.0-3.5-13.0 kills-deaths-assists ratio to lead Liquid.

Tundra opened with a 48-minute win on red before Falcons pulled out a 70-minute win on green and finished the job in 29 minutes on red. Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf of Jordan posted a 12-1-5 K-D-A on the decisive third map to power Team Falcons.

Aurora sandwiched a 49-minute win on green and a 45-minute victory on red around a 27-minute loss to Tidebound on red. Russia's Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko dominated the do-or-die third map with a 17-0-8 K-D-A.

Gaimin Gladiators defeated Team Spirit in 28 minutes on green before Spirit fought back, winning in 37 and 38 minutes on green. On the final map, Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk of Ukraine led Spirit with a 9-2-6 K-D-A.

The tournament continues Saturday with four matches:

--Upper-bracket final: Team Liquid vs. Team Falcons

--Lower-bracket quarterfinals: Tundra Esports vs. Aurora Gaming

--Lower-bracket quarterfinals: Xtreme Gaming vs. Team Spirit

--Lower-bracket semifinal: TBD vs. TBD

PGL Wallachia Season 3 prize pool

1. $300,000

2. $175,000

3. $120,000

4. $80,000

5-6. $60,000

7-8. $40,000 -- Team Tidebound, Gaimin Gladiators

9-11. $20,000 -- HEROIC, Natus Vincere, Yellow Submarine

12-14. $15,000 -- Nigma Galaxy, AVULUS, Wildcard

15-16. $10,000 -- OG, Mosquito Clan

--Field Level Media