Royal Never Give Up get early jump in ESL Los Angeles

Reuters
·2 min read

Royal Never Give Up followed up Saturday's convincing win with an even more dominant performance Sunday, becoming the first team to win two matches in the Dota 2 ESL One Los Angeles.

Playing in the China regional, Royal Never Give Up needed only 18 minutes to win the first map against Vici Gaming, then won the second map in less than 41 minutes to sweep the match. Royal Never Give Up swept Invictus Gaming in Saturday's opener.

Newbee and PSG.LGD, losers on Saturday, won on Sunday -- Newbee topping Invictus 2-0 and PSG.LGD beating EHOME 2-1. Invictus fell to 0-2 in round-robin play, while the other four teams below Royal Never Give Up all sit at 1-1.

The top two finishers in round-robin play will advance to the upper bracket in the China regional. The teams in third and fourth place will move on to the lower bracket while the bottom two finishers will be eliminated.

The coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to convert ESL One Los Angeles into an online-only event, and in doing so the tournament was split into five regions: China, Southeast Asia, South America, North America and Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States.

Rather than one champion being crowned at the end of the event, each regional will have its own champion. Europe/CIS has yet to begin play, while the other three regions each had one match Sunday.

In North America, CR4ZY beat business associates 2-0 in the first match for both squads. BOOM Esports topped Fnatic 2-1 in the opener for both squads in Southeast Asia. And NoPing e-sports swept FURIA Esports 2-0 to open their runs in South America.

Europe/CIS opens play April 4.

ESL One Los Angeles standings (through Sunday)

China

1. Royal Never Give Up, 2-0

2. Newbee, 1-1

2. PSG.LGD, 1-1

2. EHOME, 1-1

2. Vici Gaming, 1-1

6. Invictus Gaming, 0-2

North America

1. CR4ZY, 1-0

1. Quincy Crew, 1-0

3. Evil Geniuses, 0-1

3. business associates, 0-1

South America

1. NoPing e-sports, 1-0

1. beastcoast, 1-0

3. Thunder Predator, 0-1

3. FURIA Esports, 0-1

Southeast Asia

1. Team Adroit, 1-0

1. BOOM Esports, 1-0

3. Fnatic, 0-1

3. Geek Fam, 0-1

ESL One Los Angeles schedule for Monday

China

Newbee vs. Vici Gaming

Royal Never Give Up vs. EHOME

EHOME vs. Invictus Gaming

PSG.LGD vs. Royal Never Give Up

North America

Evil Geniuses vs. CR4ZY

South America

FURIA Esports vs. Thunder Predator

Southeast Asia

BOOM Esports vs. Geek Fam

--Field Level Media