Day 2 of TI10 group stage are now behind us, and the matches today have shown that Dota 2 remains as unpredictable as ever. While day 1 saw matches going in favor of clear favorites, winners became more unpredictable today as teams began facing unfamiliar opponents, or played even matches with teams of even skill. Some regional favorites saw defeat today and dropped in their current standings. Can you guess which teams tasted bitter defeat today?

If you’d like to watch day 1 and day 2 of the TI10 group stage, you can watch match replays either in the Dota 2 client via the “Watch” tab or on the official Dota 2 YouTube page. Don’t forget to link your Steam account to your Twitch account if you’re able to watch the matches live on Twitch as Twitch Drops are enabled for all TI10 streams, in all languages.

As usual, we’ll try to keep things as spoiler-free as possible, but with the number of upsets that happened today, it’ll be difficult to talk about exciting matches without getting in-depth. We’ll try to keep whatever spoilers we discuss under wraps so it doesn’t affect your viewing experience should you want to go back and watch the matches for yourself. Let’s not waste any more time and take a look at day 2 of TI10 group stage.

TI10’s group A saw the biggest shake-ups with teams swapping positions in the middle of the group during day 2. Spots 3-5 are going to be a fierce contest going into day 3, especially since the young egos of Virtus.pro are surely bruised after their second-day results. Teams like Virtus.pro and Team Undying still have difficult matches ahead of them, while Invictus Gaming will have to contend against Team Aster on day 3, who they’ve historically struggled against throughout the 2020-2021 season, with about 24% of matches against Team Aster going in favor of IG.

Here are the results for day 2 of Group A. Feel free to skip if you don’t want to spoil yourself.

Group A Results

Invictus Gaming (4-1-0) – 1st

OG (3-1-1) – 2nd

Evil Geniuses  (2-1-1) – 3rd

Team Undying (2-1-1) – 3rd

Virtus.pro (2-1-2) – 3rd

Alliance (1-2-2) – 6th

Team Aster (1-1-2) – 7th

T1 (1-0-3) – 8th

Thunder Predator (0-0-4) – 9th

Virtus.pro ate defeat at the hands of T1 and Invictus Gaming on day 2. T1’s win against Virtus.pro came as a surprise to the commentary desk, even though T1’s history against Virtus.pro shows that both teams are fairly even with either team standing an equal chance of winning. No doubt the young bear cubs on the Virtus.pro squad are feeling the heat now that they’re vying for top four against Undying and Evil Geniuses. Should Virtus.pro win their match against EG, it’s possible that they can claw their way back into a top 4 position.

Thunder Predator’s run at the TI10 group stage unfortunately resembles many of their past results at events like ESL One Fall 2021 and the OGA Dota PIT Invitational. So far, Thunder Predator have lost half of their matches in group A, and their remaining matches are not favored towards them whatsoever. It’s likely we could see Thunder Predator eliminated on day 3, which would sadly conclude their TI10 run.

Here are the best matches from day 2 of TI10’s group A matches.

As the rank 3 team in the DPC, Virtus.pro have been a favorite for CIS fans to win TI10. In the past, the team has come fairly close but struggled to make it into the top 4 at previous TIs. With a young roster that have been playing incredibly well together and gained wins against European favorites OG, many were certain that T1 would fall quickly to the crew of Russian bear cubs.

That wasn’t the case at all.

Virtus.pro would dominate both the early and the mid-game in terms of kills, but what the team didn’t account for was how every kill on the board was simply feeding time for T1’s star carry player, 23savage. In game 1, 23savage fought his way from the middle of the net worth chart to the top thanks to some crucial team fights that were enabled by Kuku on the core Earthshaker and Karl on the mid lane Lina. Virtus.pro weren’t prepared for the super-late game drafts of T1 which relied on greedy picks that ended up paying off due to T1’s tenacity to keep the game going no matter what.

Even if 23savage died in fights, T1 had heroes with enough burst and right-click damage to make up for all of VP’s focused fire on the Indonesian carry legend. T1 games have typically been regarded as being “The 23savage Show” for a while now, but the rest of T1 have definitely stepped up to the plate by playing greedy picks that manage to work well independently of 23savage’s performance.

Definitely watch this game if you’re interested in seeing how draft variety can make a difference at the highest level of Dota 2 competition.

Historically, Alliance vs. Evil Geniuses has always been seen as a friendly rivalry, as fans of one team can appreciate the other based on Alliance’s origin as a project that was helmed by one of western Dota’s greatest players and managed by Evil Geniuses’ former CEO, Alex Garfield. Fans, and Alliance, have remarked on the similarities between Arteezy and Alliance’s Nikobaby, and both teams have shared history as sister organizations.

However, that friendliness goes out the door once The International becomes involved.

Alliance haven’t looked in form outside of their match with Evil Geniuses on day 2. These games definitely sparked something in Alliance’s squad, and it’s a pleasure to see Limmp performing to the height of his ability in a match that means a lot for Alliance’s shot at the upper bracket. I won’t reveal too much about this match, but it’s definitely worth watching for the sake of the shared history behind these two organizations and the legacy they embody for their respective regions.

Definitely watch this game if you’re a fan of friendly rivalries. While Alliance have definitely been on a decline since their TI3 win, this game saw a glimpse from the past blaze across monitors that made Alliance look their best today. Watch this if you’re a fan of storylines like Cardinals vs. Cubs in American baseball.

If you’ve ever wanted to see a god bleed, it happened in Dota 2 today. Group B saw favorites PSG.LGD lose a game in a tie series today. While this equates to a superficial flesh wound for PSG.LGD, it definitely undermines the illusion of them being an unstoppable team.

Team Spirit have gotten through their most challenging matches today, and they have some fairly even and easy matches ahead of them heading into the playoffs stage. Their match against Elephant may reveal more about Elephant’s lack of preparation more than anything else, but it sets up Team Spirit to stand a chance of continuing their run at TI10.

Here are the results for day 2 of Group B.

Group B Results

Vici Gaming (4-1-0) – 1st

PSG.LGD (3-1-0) – 2nd

Team Secret (2-2-1) – 3rd

Beastcoast (2-1-1) – 4th

Elephant (1-2-2) – 5th

Fnatic (0-3-2) – 6th

Quincy Crew (0-2-2) – 7th

SG esports (1-0-3) – 7th

Team Spirit (1-0-3) – 7th

The biggest disappointment of the day has to go to Elephant who were looking dominant during day 1 but struggled against European teams that have been sitting near the top of CIS/European Dota 2 for some time now. Dropping from 2nd to 5th place doesn’t bode well for the Chinese team as they have games against PSG.LGD and Quincy Crew ahead of them, and Elephant are favored for neither of these series.

The battle for 7th place is on as Quincy Crew, Team Spirit, and SG esports have yet to face each other and establish a clear ranking for the bottom 4 teams from group B. If these teams want to at least make it to the lower bracket of TI10’s main event, they’ll have to bring out their best against each other. This task may be harder for Brazilian team SG esports, who have yet to face PSG.LGD and are unlikely to win that series.

Here are the best matches for day 1 of group B.

Listing this game seems too easy as both teams are clear favorites to win TI10 this year, but the match between these two showcased reasons why both of these teams are so clearly favored. Team Secret’s creativity and gumption really shined in game 1, and Team Secret’s YapzOr was able to show off why he should be considered the world’s best Rubick player. Secret’s execution-heavy draft seemed to falter against PSG.LGD’s sustain and burst-heavy hero picks, but Secret showed why they should never be counted out as the game pushed past 50 minutes with a surprise finish as Secret utilized a rarely-seen neutral item that many would consider worthless.

Game 2 showed why PSG.LGD’s are clear favorites to win TI10 as they capitalized on early momentum to put a stranglehold on Team Secret’s draft, preventing them from finding a way back into the game by denying them map control and itemizing for a mid-game win. PSG.LGD’s Tinker and Snapfire provided a significant map threat that shut down Team Secret’s comeback options.

This match definitely deserves your attention as it will serve as a primer for what we can expect at the playoff stage. Team Secret typically gets into situations like this against strong opponents, so if Secret fans are holding out for their favorite team, they have to hope that Puppey and his team learn how to recover from the stress and fatigue of a difficult game 1.

I’m a big Team Spirit fan, and it’s mostly because of the team’s ability to devour opponents based on a single weakness that they exploit to its logical extreme. The CIS squad really don’t show any significant weaknesses outside of general inexperience, and my personal hopes are that they stay together regardless of what their results at TI10 may be.

The match between Team Spirit and Elephant shows how Spirit was able to take advantage of Elephant’s inability to close out a won game, an issue that has plagued other teams Team Spirit have won against such as Team Liquid. I’d equate Team Spirit to something akin to Max Scherzer when he started pitching for the Nationals in 2015: fresh, but with grit and determination that only comes from spending some time at the bottom.

Day 3 could see some teams set up for elimination from TI10 overall. Thunder Predator’s chances of continuing their run at Dota 2’s biggest event are likely to be cut short by their games against Evil Geniuses who have little problem dispatching South American teams. With PSG.LGD tying their first series on day 2, the remaining days of the TI10 group stage seem nebulous as if any team could take a game off them now. Expect the match between PSG.LGD and beastcoast to be a favorite to watch, as PSG.LGD respect beastcoast’s modern Peruvian style due to its disruptive playstyle.

Team Undying has definitely exceeded expectations on day 2, managing solid wins against strong opponents. If they’re able to play an even series against Evil Geniuses, the likelihood of seeing them in the upper bracket for TI10’s main event is high.

We’ll be sure to update you regarding day 3 of TI10 once it concludes, as well as any other pertinent stories coming out of TI10.