TI 2023 Group Stage Day 1: Spirit, Liquid, LGD, and Tundra lead the pack

The International (TI) 2023, this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament, kicked off on Friday (13 October) with the first day of its preliminary Road to The International Group Stage. Even this early on, the biggest contenders for the Aegis of Champions are already making themselves known.

The last two TI champions are notably among the group leaders, with TI 2022 champions Tundra Esports (plus two-time TI champion Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen) leading Group D with a 5-1 record while TI 2021 champions Team Spirit have already qualified for the next phase with a perfect 6-0 record.

Meanwhile, three-time Major finalists Team Liquid are the top dogs of Group B with a 5-1 record while Chinese powerhouse LGD Gaming made good use of their Honkai: Star Rail buff to take the top spot in Group C with a clean 4-0 record.

Here's how all the action went down in day one of TI 2023's Group Stage:

Spirit qualify for next phase in Group A

Spirit are looking like the biggest favourites for the title this year as they have already qualified for the next phase of the Group Stage after a perfect 6-0 run in day one. The TI 2021 champions swept through fellow Eastern European squad 9Pandas, Southeast Asia's Team SMG, and Western Europe's Entity to top the standings of Group A.

9Pandas and Entity are tied for second place in Group A with a 3-3 record apiece. While both teams were swept by Spirit and split their series, 1-1, they put themselves in good position to advance to the next phase by sweeping their remaining opponent of the day. Entity cruised through South America's Evil Geniuses (EG) while 9Pandas made short work of SMG.

Meanwhile, EG (1-3) and SMG (1-5) are fighting to avoid getting eliminated from the first phase of the Group Stage. While the two bottom teams drew their match in day one, they face an uphill battle in day two. EG will take on the Eastern European gauntlet of Spirit and 9Pandas while SMG will have a must-win match versus Entity.

Liquid lead the 'group of death'

Group B was widely considered to be the most stacked group of the tournament, though it seems Liquid didn't have much difficulty in separating themselves from the rest of the competition.

After being forced to a draw by China's Azure Ray in their first match, the three-time Major finalists soared to the top of the group with huge back-to-back 2-0 sweeps over Eastern Europe's BetBoom Team and North America's Shopify Rebellion.

Azure Ray hold second place after playing two matches, having drawn against Liquid before sweeping South America's Thunder Awaken. BetBoom also played two matches in day one and sit in third place with a 2-2 record, having swept Thunder Awaken before getting swept themselves by Liquid.

Meanwhile, the American squads of Group B are in danger of an early elimination.

Shopify Rebellion (1-3) drew with Thunder Awaken, which featured the first Rampage of TI 2023 courtesy of Artour "Arteezy" Babaev, before getting swept by Liquid. On the other hand, Thunder Awaken (1-5) were swept by Azure Ray and BetBoom after drawing against their North American counterparts.

Shopify Rebellion will be looking to stave off elimination as they face BetBoom and Azure Ray in day two. On the other hand, Thunder Awaken must face Liquid in a difficult must-win match if they hope to stay longer in the tournament.

LGD top Group C as Gaimin Gladiators struggle

To the surprise of many, Chinese powerhouse LGD have taken the lead in Group C over three-time Major champions Gaimin Gladiators after pulling off a 2-0 upset over them in the opening match of the group. LGD then swept North America's Nouns Esports to finish day one with a clean 4-0 record.

Gaimin Gladiators are still in good position to advance to the next phase despite some struggles. After getting swept by LGD, the three-time Major champions swept Eastern Europe's Virtus.pro (VP) and drew 1-1 against Nouns to end the day in second place with a 3-3 record.

South America's Beastcoast sit in third place with a 2-2 record after drawing against Nouns and VP.

While Nouns (2-4) and VP (1-3) are in the bottom two, the North American squad do have a leg up after forcing a draw with Gaimin Gladiators. With VP expected to get swept by LGD in their first match of day two, their showdown with Nouns will most likely determine who will be eliminated early from Group C.

Tundra lock in first place in Group D

Defending TI champions Tundra are off to a good start to their campaign for a second-straight Aegis of Champions as they lead Group D with a 5-1 record. Having someone who has already achieved such a feat certainly helps.

Tundra started the day with back-to-back sweeps over North America's TSM and Southeast Asia's Talon Esports before being forced to a draw by South America's Vivo Keyd Stars.

TSM are in second place with a 3-3 record, bouncing back from their 2-0 loss to Tundra with their own 2-0 win over Talon and a 1-1 draw against PSG.Quest.

PSG.Quest and Keyd Stars are tied for third place with a 2-2 record apiece. Meanwhile, Talon sit squarely at the bottom of the group as the only team to go winless in day one.

Day two of competition in Group D will feature all three teams in danger of elimination. Keyd Stars and Talon will face off to start the day, followed by PSG.Quest taking on Tundra, then by Keyd Stars versus TSM. Finally, a pivotal match between Talon and PSG.Quest will close things out.

Here are all the results from day one of TI 2023's Group Stage:

Group A:

• Team Spirit 2-0 9Pandas

• Entity 2-0 Evil Geniuses

• Team Spirit 2-0 Team SMG

• 9Pandas 1-1 Entity

• Team Spirit 2-0 Entity

• Evil Geniuses 1-1 Team SMG

• 9Pandas 2-0 Team SMG

Group B:

• BetBoom Team 2-0 Thunder Awaken

• Team Liquid 1-1 Azure Ray

• Shopify Rebellion 1-1 Thunder Awaken

• Team Liquid 2-0 BetBoom Team

• Team Liquid 2-0 Shopify Rebellion

• Azure Ray 2-0 Thunder Awaken

Group C:

• Gaimin Gladiators 0-2 LGD Gaming

• Beastcoast 1-1 Nouns Esports

• LGD Gaming 2-0 Nouns Esports

• Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 Virtus.pro

• Beastcoast 1-1 Virtus.pro

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Nouns Esports

Group D:

• Tundra Esports 2-0 TSM

• Tundra Esports 2-0 Talon Esports

• PSG.Quest 1-1 Vivo Keyd Stars

• Tundra Esports 1-1 Vivo Keyd Stars

• Talon Esports 0-2 TSM

• PSG.Quest 1-1 TSM

Here are the full standings after day one of TI 2023's Group Stage:

Group A:

1. Team Spirit: 6-0

2. 9Pandas: 3-3

3. Entity: 3-3

4. Evil Geniuses: 1-3

5. Team SMG: 1-5

Group B:

1. Team Liquid: 5-1

2. Azure Ray: 3-1

3. BetBoom Team: 2-2

4. Shopify Rebellion: 1-3

5. Thunder Awaken: 1-5

Group C:

1. LGD Gaming: 4-0

2. Gaimin Gladiators: 3-3

3. Beastcoast: 2-2

4. Nouns Esports: 2-4

5. Virtus.pro: 1-3

Group D:

1. Tundra Esports: 5-1

2. TSM: 3-3

3. PSG.Quest: 2-2

4. Vivo Keyd Stars: 2-2

5. Talon Esports: 0-4

TI 2023's Group Stage features an all-new format with two distinct phases.

The first phase will take place from 12 to 13 October and will split the 20 participating teams into four groups of five teams each, who will then go through a single round-robin with best-of-two matches. The bottom team of each group will be eliminated after the first phase while the remaining 16 teams will advance to the second phase.

The second phase will be held from 14 to 15 October and will have the remaining teams play in eight head-to-head, best-of-three matches to determine placement in the Main Event.

In this phase, the Top 2 teams from each group in phase one will get matched with either the third or fourth-placed teams from the opposite group. To clarify, the Top 2 teams from Group A will be matched against the third and fourth-placed teams from Group C while Group B's will face Group D's.

The winners of the eight head-to-head matches will then earn upper bracket berths in the Playoffs while the losers will have to start from the lower bracket.

TI 2023 will be hosted from 12 to 29 October in Seattle, the United States and will see 20 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world fighting to claim the coveted Aegis of Champions and the lion's share of a growing prize pool.

For everything you need to know about TI 2023, check here.

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