The GAMERS GALAXY: Dota 2 Invitational HatYai Thailand was one of the last chances for pro teams to find late season form before The International 2022 regional qualifiers. The event was played in front of a live audience and took place from the 18th of August to the 20th of August. It featured eight of the best teams from around the world. These talented pros competed for a juicy $125,000 prize pool. All matches were streamed at https://gg.bet/de/dota2. Let’s look at which teams competed and who eventually won!
Which Teams Competed At the GAMERS GALAXY Dota 2 Invitational HatYai Thailand?
The GAMERS GALAXY: Dota 2 Invitational HatYai Thailand featured eight teams. The teams were split into two groups, Group A and Group B. Group A featured:
- Army Geniuses
- BOOM Esports
- Polaris Esports
- Talon Esports
Group B:
- Execration
- Fnatic
- RSG
- Team SMG
On paper, the strongest teams were BOOM Esports and Fnatic. These are two massive pro teams with lots of big-match experience. BOOM Esports has almost $1 million in Dota 2 winnings, while Fnatic has over $5 million in lifetime Dota 2 earnings.
What Happened in the Group Matches
The group stage followed a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each group progressed to the playoffs.
In Group A, Talon Esports, BOOM Esports, and Polaris Esports all won two games and lost one game. In Group A Execration, RSG and Team SMG all had records of two wins and one loss. Surprisingly Fnatic didn’t win a single game and ended up 0-3. In Group A, Army Geniuses also had a terrible tournament and failed to win a match. Talon Esports and Team SMG were eliminated in the group stage based on tiebreakers even though they had the same record of 2-1 as the other teams.
Fnatic will not be pleased with their performance, especially at this time of the season. Fnatic is hoping for a deep run in the International. They don’t have much time to get their lineup right and find their form. We hope Fnatic get back to their winning ways and makes a deep run at the International in October in Singapore.
What Went Down in the Playoffs
In the first semi-final match, BOOM Esports took on RSG. The series was a close, back-and-forth affair. RSG managed to win a game to force a 3rd and final match. But in the end, BOOM Esports showed their class and won the series 2-1 and booked their ticket to the finals.
In the second semi-final match, Polaris Esports absolutely crushed Execration and won the series 2-0. This set up an exciting 5 match series with BOOM Esports.
BOOM Esports and Polaris Esports proved to be evenly matched. It came to the final match, where BOOM Esports eventually won and took home $75,000. BOOM Esports are improving at a rapid pace. Keep an eye on them at the International in October.