Arlington Major playoffs day 1: Main takeaways

The final Major of the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit, The Arlington Major is underway.

With the group stage concluded, teams are now in the double elimination playoff bracket vying for the title of Major Champion. More importantly, this event will decide which 12 teams will get direct invites to the most prestigious event of the year, The International 11. Here are the main takeaways from the first day of playoffs.

First in point and skill, PSG.LGD continues to dominate

While there are instances where teams rank first through past accolades, PSG.LGD have been at the top of Dota since 2021. They have wavered for certain periods, but have always managed to return to form when it counts. PSG.LGD came out of the group stage with by far the best record out of any team. They did not even lose a series, only tying with Beast Coast to tarnish their otherwise perfect record.

In the first round of the playoffs, PSG.LGD beat Southeast Asian favorites BOOM Esports, knocking them down to the lower bracket in a clean 2-0 sweep. They will now face OG Esports, a team that they defeated in the previous Riyadh Masters 2022.

📢"You can't be this good!!!" 😮@LacosteDota after XinQ's stun on @Yopajdota #PGLMajor pic.twitter.com/gsfjhvNCaH

— PGL (@pglesports) August 9, 2022

10 out of 12 International 11 invites are decided

Teams have been playing through the regular season of the Dota Pro Circuit for the last seven months, each team striving for the top 12 spots. Now with the conclusion of yesterday’s games, 10 of the 12 invites have been decided.

With BOOM Esports beating Team Liquid and Outsiders doing the same to Royal Never Give Up, both losers are out of contention for direct invites to The International 11. On the other hand, BOOM Esports confirmed their spot and Outsiders have a shot by beating the winner of Beast Coast and Fnatic.

Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen, statsman extraordinaire, wrote a tweet that showed all the possibilities of which teams could take the final two direct invites to The International 11.

. @RNG are out. 3 teams fighting for 2 spots.

If @FNATIC > @beastcoast:
* Fnatic qualify
* If Outsiders > Fnatic, Outsider qualifies else EG qualifies

If BC > Fnatic:
* EG & Outsiders qualify
* Fnatic doesn't qualify

The convergence can end tomorrow.https://t.co/4XY1FRMLRz pic.twitter.com/pU8C2zWprX

— Ben Steenhuisen (@Noxville) August 11, 2022

North America is out of contention at the Arlington Major

On a more sour note, both North American teams — Soniqs and Evil Geniuses — are out of the tournament. The disappointing reality set in for North American fans in attendance as Evil Geniuses lost to Entity in the first round of the lower bracket. The recently sponsored Soniqs were out of the tournament during the group stage as they fell to last place in group A.

If there is a shining light at the end of the tunnel, it is that four out of five TSM FTX members are participating at the tournament as stand-ins. Enzo “Timado” Gianoli, Jonathan “Bryle” De Guia and Kim “Dubu”Doo-young are stand-ins for Fnatic as three of their players were unable to attain US visas. Jonáš “Saberlight” Volek is a stand-in for Entity, the team that defeated his North American brethren Evil Geniuses.

Tomorrow will be the second day of playoffs and even more teams will be eliminated from the competition. Don’t miss out on the action by tuning into the Arlington Major official streams on YouTube!