The second Invitational qualifier started yesterday and only Ninjas in Pyjamas, Power Rangers, ASUS.Polar and Alliance remain. Entering the final two days of the qualifier, all four teams will be hoping to secure the fourth spot in the LAN finals and the €2500 prize money.
The first four matches in the Esportal Invitational Qualifier 2 have come to a close and the final four teams have been decided. Ninjas in Pyjamas and ASUS.Polar secured their places in the semi-finals, as many expected, while the four-man roster of Power Rangers, who were a last minute addition to the qualifier after Team Tinker disbanded, were able to secure victory over Meepwn'd. Meanwhile at the bottom of the bracket, Alliance were able to bring an end to Vega Squadron's winning streak to secure a rematch of the previous Invitational where they lost 2-1 to ASUS.Polar.
In the opening match of the qualifier, Virtus Pro attempted to recover their inconsistent form against Swedish team Ninjas in Pyjamas. The opening game was a closely fought battle with both teams breaking into the opponents bases, but Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to claim the first game with the power of Necronomicons. The second game was far more dominant showing from the Swedish team, with Virtus Pro unable to cope with Joel 'Apemother' Larsson's Dragon Knight. He secured 8 kills and 19 assists without death leaving NiP to easily finish the game before the 33rd minute.
In the second series of the opening day, narrow favourites Meepwn'd took on the four-man roster of Power Rangers. The Belarusian team had the help of Armenian player RodjER in the middle lane, but it was Meepwn'd who claimed the first game after an hour-long marathon. Power Rangers were in control for the majority of the second game but failed to secure their victory until the 51st minute with a slow push from Dmitrii 'Ditya Ra' Minenkov's Naga Siren. The third and final game was a closer, 70-minute long affair and despite early game success for Meepwn'd, they were unable to stay in the late game against Ditya Ra's Tinker.
In the second day, ASUS.Polar secured a hard earned victory over 4 Anchors after an evenly matched game where the Russian's only took a significant lead at the hour mark. The second game was an easier battle for Polar, this time with Ilya 'Illidan' Pevcaev as the mid-lane Medusa and, after some early game hiccups, ASUS.Polar eliminated 4 Anchors after turning on the dominance after 25 minutes.
In the final match, it was Alliance taking on the up-and-coming Russian team Vega Squadron. Both teams had played each other earlier in the day in the Dota Pit group stage which ended in a draw and it was looking to be a similar situation as both teams took one game each to force a decider. Vega had won their last three tournaments entering the qualifiers so confidence was high, but Vega seemed to panic in the final game throwing strange buybacks and misplays into the mix. By the time the team were able to land good spell combinations, the damage output was already too much from Alliance. After a last ditch smoke attempt from Vega Squadron failed, they called the 'GG' bringing an end to their winning form.
The first semi-final between Ninjas in Pyjamas and late replacements Power Rangers is set to take place tomorrow at 17:30 CET, while tournament favourites ASUS.Polar take on Alliance later at 21:00 CET.
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