All the excitement from Day 1 of the Stockholm Major.
After waiting for around two weeks, it is finally time to watch the best teams in the world in action. ESL One Stockholm 2022 started today and we had the chance to see 12 epic games. All of them were interesting, but those below were the ones you should’ve watched.
Following today’s games, we have three more days where we can watch loads of matches. Once the group stage comes to an end, the top four teams will secure a slot for the playoffs’ Upper Bracket. Those that finish 5th and 6th will go to the Lower Bracket. Unsurprisingly, the last team from each group will be eliminated.
EG vs Tundra
Game One
The first series that people were eager to watch was between EG and Tundra. Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and the rest have already proven themselves, but EG has yet to meet a team from another region this year.
Although the two teams had good drafts, Evil Geniuses was unable to win the laning stage. In fact, a couple of big mistakes from EG’s cores gave Team Tundra a solid advantage. The team even got the first Aegis after just 19 minutes. This gave them a solid 10k net worth lead.
Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen and his Furion tried to delay the game as much as possible. However, his split pushing capabilities were no match to Tundra’s team fight potential. In the end, the Europeans won another important fight and secured the first win in this series.
Game Two
Following EG’s devastating loss, the team slightly changed their draft for game two. Judging from the laning stage, it was a good idea because EG had a perfect start. Even though the NA squad did not have a lot of net worth advantage, their Storm Spirit gave them the chance to secure a lot of kills.
EG’s lead was not big enough to pressure their opponents, which is why neither team got a lead until the mid game. Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and his Bloodseeker had substantially more items than everyone else on his team. However, he was not powerful enough to stop his opponents.
Despite Abed’s efforts to keep EG in the game, Tundra eventually won the second game and the series.
OG vs BOOM
The second series of the day that turned out to be a lot more interesting than the rest was between OG and BOOM. Prior to this game, Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov and his team had a rough series against beastcoast. Fortunately, the EU powerhouse defeated their opponents and secured themselves the victory.
Game One
On the other hand, BOOM had to fight against one of the best teams from Eastern Europe. Despite winning Game One, the SEA squad could not defeat their opponents in game two, which means this match ended in a draw.
OG decided to get a strong midgame lineup, whereas their opponents picked one of their best heroes. Interestingly, Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer’s Templer Assassin had to lane against bzm’s Sand King.
Both teams focused on farming in the early game, so we didn’t see a lot of action until BOOM’s Riki and TA got a few items. This was when things became really complicated for the EU powerhouse.
Several big kills gave BOOM’s TA the Aegis, and the team suddenly gained a massive lead. BOOM’s net worth increased to more than 34k and the team eventually won the game.
Game Two
OG’s decision to get an interesting draft for Game 1 backfired because BOOM ripped through them. The European Division I champions decided to get more comfortable heroes for game two. As a result, the team got Spectre and Storm Spirit.
The laning stage was similar to game one because both teams tried to farm as much as possible. OG was more active, which allowed their team to slowly but steadily snowball out of control.
Although BOOM had Ember Spirit and Phantom Assassin, OG managed to defeat their opponents before they became too strong. Consequently, the team equalized the series.
Fnatic vs Team Spirit
This was yet another anticipated series that everyone wanted to see. Fnatic is the best team in SEA, but it is yet to meet some of Team Spirit’s Calibre. The current TI champions were almost flawless in Tour 2, so many people consider them the favorites.
Game One
Fnatic’s draft in the first game of the series was perfect on paper, but Team Spirit definitely had the better pick. The team countered Fnatic’s team with Anti-Mage, a hero that many teams often forget.
As expected, the early game was even, but once Team Spirit’s two cores started fighting, they didn’t give their counterparts any chances of succeeding. Fnatic relied on their Chaos Knight, but the STR carry was miles away from Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk’s Anti-Mage.
Fnatic had no chances of bouncing back in game one, so after losing a couple of fights, the team decided to use the GG call.
Game Two
Fnatic had an amazing start to game two and even secured a slight lead. Their WK, DK and Storm had good items and started to hunt their opponents in order to prevent them from farming. While it is true that the team almost got the T3 tower on the top lane, a very bad fight there turned things around.
Yatoro’s Troll did not have the best game, but after this fight, he got an Aegis. This is when things changed because he suddenly became the strongest hero in the game.
The next couple of fights were hard for Fnatic. In the end, the team lost all of its momenta and allowed Team Spirit to win this game and the series.
Other interesting results
Aside from the games that we had the chance to watch, there were several interesting results. Perhaps the most surprising one is EG’s second loss of the day. After the team failed to win against Team Tundra, it was also unable to defeat T1.
BB Team, which is the first Eastern European team to secure a slot for this Major also failed to impress. Although the team didn’t lose, it secured two draws. The first one was vs BOOM, whereas the second match was against BC.
Thinking of betting on the Stockholm Major? Check out our Dota 2 betting tips here.
