XG, Falcons clinch playoff spots at PGL Wallachia

Extreme Gaming and Team Falcons clinched spots in the Dota 2 PGL Wallachia Season 1 playoffs on Sunday, improving to 3-0 and becoming the only unbeaten teams remaining in group play.

XG had an easy go of it, sweeping Aurora in the first of the 2-0 v. 2-0 matchups, while the Falcons needed three maps and more than two hours to get past the Gaimin Gladiators.

The $1 million Dota 2 event is beginning with 16 teams in a modified Swiss-system group stage. The top eight teams will advance to the double-elimination playoffs, while the bottom eight will be eliminated.

All matches in the tournament are best-of-three except for the grand final on May 19, which will be best-of-five. The championship side will make $300,000, with the runner-up receiving $175,000.

On Sunday, XG beat Aurora in 44 and 38 minutes, both times on green. Guo "Xm" Hongcheng led the winners with 21 kills, four deaths and 32 assists in the two maps. Wang "Ame" Chunyu added 20 kills for XG.

In the next match, GG drew first blood, winning in 33 minutes on green. But the Falcons pulled off the reverse sweep with 42- and 46-minute wins, both of those on green, as well.

Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf led the Falcons with 46 kills in the three maps, including 25 in one. Andreas Franck "Cr1t-" Nielsen registered 57 assists in the win.

In the four matches between 1-1 teams, a trio of teams got away with sweeps: Shopify Rebellion over Team Liquid, BetBoom Team over MOUZ and Team Spirit over nouns. Team Secret put up a fight against BOOM Esports but fell 2-1.

G2 x iG and Virtus.pro got their first wins in the 0-2 matches, beating Azure Ray and HEROIC, respectively. The losers were eliminated from playoff contention.

The tournament resumes Monday with three matches between 2-1 teams and three between 1-2 teams.

Matchups of 2-1 teams:

--Aurora vs. Shopify Rebellion

--Gaimin Gladiators vs. BOOM Esports

--BetBoom Team vs. Team Spirit

Matchups of 1-2 teams:

--nouns vs. G2 x iG

--Team Liquid vs. MOUZ

--Team Secret vs. Virtus.pro

PGL Wallachia Season 1 group standings

T1. Team Falcons, 3-0

T1. Xtreme Gaming, 3-0

T3. Aurora, 2-1

T3. BetBoom Team, 2-1

T3. BOOM Esports, 2-1

T3. Gaimin Gladiators, 2-1

T3. Shopify Rebellion, 2-1

T3. Team Spirit, 2-1

T9. G2 x iG, 1-2

T9. MOUZ, 1-2

T9. nouns, 1-2

T9. Team Liquid, 1-2

T9. Team Secret, 1-2

T9. Virtus.pro, 1-2

T15. Azure Ray, 0-3

T15. HEROIC, 0-3

PGL Wallachia Season 1 prize pool

1. $300,000

2. $175,000

3. $120,000

4. $80,000

5-6. $60,000

7-8. $40,000

9-11. $20,000

12-14. $15,000

15-16. $10,000

--Field Level Media