BetBoom Team won a pair of matches Friday to advance to the lower-bracket semifinal of the $1 million DreamLeague Season 23 event.
BetBoom outlasted Aurora 2-1 in the first round before sweeping Tundra Esports 2-0 to move two spots away from the grand final.
Also Friday, Azure Ray defeated HEROIC 2-0 in the first round of the lower bracket to advance to face Xtreme Gaming on Saturday.
Twelve teams are competing in the online Dota 2 tournament, with eight advancing from the group stage to the playoffs. The double-elimination playoff bracket began Thursday, with all matches best-of-three until Sunday’s best-of-five grand final.
BetBoom opened with a 41-minute win on green before Aurora answered with a 26-minute victory, also on green. However, Aurora experienced prohibitive internet issues and could not continue competing, and they were forced to forfeit the final game, letting BetBoom advance.
BetBoom then delivered a 35-minute win on red and a 53-minute triumph on green over Tundra Esports, avenging a 2-0 loss to them during Group B action.
Like Aurora, HEROIC also received a technical loss due to internet issues. They forfeited Game 1 of their match against Azure Ray, who proceeded to pull off a 66-minute win on green to complete the sweep.
The playoffs continue Saturday with three matches:
–Gaimin Gladiators vs. Team Falcons (upper-bracket final)
–Xtreme Gaming vs. Azure Ray (lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–BetBoom Team vs. Xtreme-Azure Ray winner (lower-bracket semifinal)
DreamLeague Season 23 prize pool (money, ESL Pro Tour points)
1. $300,000, 6,000 points — TBD
2. $175,000, 5,000 — TBD
3. $120,000, 4,000 — TBD
4. $85,000, 3,200 — TBD
5-6. $57,500, 2,200 — Tundra Esports, one team TBD
7-8. $47,500, 1,000 — Aurora, HEROIC
9-10. $30,000, 500 — Team Liquid, Shopify Rebellion
11-12. $25,000, 250 — PSG Quest, Natus Vincere
–Field Level Media