Group A is already halfway finished after the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor’s first day finished with Flying Penguins sitting on top.
Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao and his new stack came into the event as a question mark, having not played in many events prior to the qualifiers. But they didn’t look like a newly-formed team as they managed to take down Royal Never Give Up 2-1 in their opening match.
On the flip side, Old But Gold pulled off an even bigger upset as they knocked off OG in three games. Both teams had some issues in the days prior revolving around travel, but OBG clearly put those out of mind before playing.
This loss puts immense pressure on OG in the coming days after placing third at ESL One Katowice 2019 in an extremely stacked competition. That performance is starting to look like an oddity from their earlier placements this season.
FP and OBG went on to meet in the winner’s match to decide who would be the first team to lock themselves into the playoffs.
It continued the trend on the day of going three games, but it was FP who won the day as EternalEnVy continued to just dominate on Spectre. FP’s win put them into the next round as they await the results of the next several days.
OBG now sits in the decider match and will play either OG or Royal for the final Group A playoff spot as they fight to stay alive in the Minor.
FP’s roster all had strong showings as they faced their toughest competition yet, but the real test comes should they be matched up with a team like Gambit Esports in the playoffs.
Matches at the Minor continue when Group B begins their matches on March 8 at 4am CT.
