Xtreme Gaming swept fellow Chinese squad Team Tidebound to secure the top seed of the Group Stage.
We now know the first of eight Dota 2 teams that will be fighting in the main stage in The International (TI) 2025. Chinese powerhouse 
Xtreme Gaming swept regional rivals 
Team Tidebound, 2-0, in the Round 4 advancement match of the tournament's Group Stage on Saturday (6 September) to secure a direct berth in the Playoffs as the top seed.
TI 2025's Group Stage has seen a resurgence for the Chinese Dota 2 scene, as both Xtreme and Tidebound won all their matches in the first three rounds. Xtreme swept 
Aurora Gaming in Round 1, defeated tournament favourites 
Team Spirit in Round 2, then took down 
Team Falcons in Round 3. Meanwhile, Tidebound defeated 
Natus Vincere before scoring back-to-back sweeps over defending champions 
Team Liquid and 
PARIVISION.
That then set up an all-Chinese affair in Round 4, where the first of three direct berths to the Playoffs was at stake. Xtreme prevailed over Tidebound after stomping game one and winning a 63-minute slugfest in game two.
Xtreme entered the series with supreme confidence, picking Leshrac for 
Hongcheng “Xm” Guo and Undying for Jing “Xxs” Lin to spearhead a strong mid game timing and make space for Wang “Ame” Chunyu's Anti-Mage to take over in the late game. Things didn't need to go late, however, as Xtreme utterly dominated the laning stage and simply snowballed to the win in just 36 minutes of action.
Xm paced his team's 25-10 kill lead with 13 kills and 10 assists against just one death. Ame had a perfect five-kill, five-assist performance while Xxs also had a clean four kills and 10 assists.
Game two saw Xtreme opt for a similar strategy by once again picking Undying for Xxs, while giving Sven to Ame and Puck to Xm. Tidebound put up a much better fight this time around and held the gold lead through the first 21 minutes of the game, only for Xtreme to take over once they started winning the crucial mid-game fights.
Despite being on the back foot from that point onwards, Tidebound put up an admirable defense against a relentless onslaught from the side of Xtreme. Xxs' Undying notably proved to be the difference-maker in the late game clashes, making good use of his hero's ability to put allies in Tombstone to save them from Tidebound's burst damage. After an action-packed 63 minutes, Xtreme forced the GG call from Tidebound to secure a coveted spot in TI 2025's Playoffs.
Xxs led the way with 12 kills and 20 assists against six deaths, while Xm added 10 kills and 17 assists on just two deaths.
Xtreme now head to the Playoffs as the biggest favourites to claim the Aegis of Champions, having won all four matches they played in the Group Stage and only dropping two games in the process. It's a feat made more remarkable by the fact that the team is playing with 
Jian Wei “xNova-” Yap as a stand-in after their original position 5 support player, 
Wilson “poloson” Koh Chin, was sidelined two months ago in order to recover from health issues.
As for Tidebound, they still have a chance to advance to the Playoffs and avoid having to play in the Elimination Stage. Tidebound will play against another team with a 3-1 record in Round 5 for the second of three direct spots to the Playoffs.
For more information on the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year, check out GosuGamers' guide to this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament and TI 2025 tournament tracker.
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