Spirit, PARIVISION reach DreamLeague 29 upper-bracket final

Team Spirit and PARIVISION pulled out 2-1 victories in the upper-bracket semifinals Thursday and will meet in the upper-bracket final of the $1 million DreamLeague Season 29 online event.

Spirit outlasted Aurora Gaming while PARIVISION rallied from down 1-0 to beat Team Falcons. Aurora and Falcons dropped into the lower bracket, where the first round finished up with PlayTime earning a 2-1 comeback victory over Natus Vincere.

Sixteen teams began the Dota 2 tournament on May 13. The top four finishers from Group A and Group B moved into the upper-bracket playoffs, with the fifth- and sixth-place finishers advancing to the lower bracket.

The double-elimination playoffs began Tuesday. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday. The winning team will take home $250,000 in player prize money, a club bonus of $40,000 and a minimum of 6,000 ESL Pro Tour points.

On Thursday, Team Spirit opened with a 34-minute win on red before Aurora responded with a 42-minute victory on red. The final map went nearly 68 minutes before Spirit, playing on green, pulled out the win. Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk of Ukraine led a balanced effort for Spirit with an average kills-deaths-assists ratio of 8.0-5.3-9.3.

Team Falcons went ahead with a 42-minute win on green before PARIVISION sped to a 22-minute triumph on green and landed the knockout blow with a 41-minute victory on red. Russia's Alan "Satanic" Gallyamov posted an 8.7-3.0-9.7 average K-D-A ratio.

In the lower-bracket first round, Natus Vincere opened with a 57-minute win on green, but PlayTime scored consecutive wins on green in 39 and 41 minutes to flip things. Maximo "Wits" Orozco Alza of led all-Peruvian PlayTime with a 12.7-2.7-12.3 average K-D-A ratio.

The tournament continues Friday with three matches:

--Tundra Esports vs. Xtreme Gaming (lower-bracket Round 2)

--BetBoom Team vs. PlayTime (lower-bracket Round 2)

--Aurora Gaming vs. Tundra/Xtreme winner (lower-bracket quarterfinals)

DreamLeague Season 29 prize pool (player prize money, club reward and base ESL Pro Tour points)

1. $250,000, $40,000, 6,000 points

2. $100,000, $30,000, 5,000 points

3. $80,000, $25,000, 4,000 points

4. $60,000, $20,000, 3,200 points

5-6. $40,000, $15,000, 2,200 points

7-8. $27,500, $12,500, 1,000 points

9-12. $20,000, $10,000, 375 points -- Virtus.pro, Team Liquid, Vici Gaming, Natus Vincere

13-14. $12,500, $10,000, 140 points -- ex-HEROIC, Nigma Galaxy

15-16. $10,000, $10,000, 60 points -- GamerLegion, REKONIX

--Field Level Media