MDL 2017 kicked off earlier with the first of two group stage days. LGD topped the group with an undefeated record, while Clutch Gamers fell hard to the bottom unable to clinch a win.
Rounding out one of the last LAN events before TI7, the event commenced with a tale of two giants fighting for domination. OG and Evil Geniuses met for one last time on the battlefield in a test of strength and strategy. EG seemed to easily take the win off OG, who would ultimately end up in the bottom rungs of the group with a 1:2 win - a surprisingly slow start for the European sweethearts.
Not to say it wasn't surprising though. The antagonist that put both of the iconic teams under was LGD Gaming - who would overshadow our protagonists so far. An undefeated four game run have already placed the Chinese team as the frontrunners for the seeding into the main event. But three more battles await the team against their Chinese brethren and a full day of games tomorrow mean that the top seeding is still almost anyone's for the taking.
After being narrowly edged out of a spot at TI7, Clutch Gamers looks like they haven't been able to quite pick up the pieces of a disappointing end to a fantastic year. The Filipino squad were unable to land a single victory with four games already under their belt.
One more day of group stage series will continue tomorrow, July 6th at 04:00 CEST with matches between Vici Gaming and Evil Geniuses and OG taking on Newbee.
No teams will be eliminated at the end of the series. The main event brackets will span July 7-9th as all eight participants will battle it out for the lion's share of the $250,000 prize pool.
