Invictus Gaming won both its matches in group stage play Saturday to take a commanding lead in Group A at The International 10 in Bucharest, Romania.
The $40 million tournament is the finale of the Dota Pro Circuit season.
IG (6-1-0) swept Team Aster in a pair of 37-minute maps, then topped Alliance in matches of 40 and 35 minutes.
The wins give IG a comfortable Group A lead over OG (3-3-1) and Virtus.pro (4-1-2), who each have a 9-5 map record. OG split with Evil Geniuses and Team Undying, and Virtus.pro swept winless Thunder Predator in 41 and 22 minutes and also Evil Geniuses in a pair of 33-minute contests.
EG, TI and Undying each have 8-6 map records heading into the final day of Sunday’s group stage competition.
In Group B, PSG.LGD (5-1-0) won two matches to remain in first place. After a long 46-minute opener against Vici Gaming in 46 minutes, PSG.LGD won the match with a quick 18-minute contest. They also topped SG esports with wins in 43 and 26 minutes.
The loss to PSG.LGD, combined with a draw with Beastcoast, dropped VG to 4-2-1 and second place in Group B. Team Secret (3-2-1) has a hold on third place.
The group stage runs through Sunday before the main event of TI10 takes place Tuesday through Sunday. Eighteen teams are competing in a round robin in two groups of nine. All group-stage matches are best-of-two series. The top four teams in each group will advance to the upper bracket of the main event, teams Nos. 5-8 will start in the lower bracket, and the last-place teams will be eliminated.
Group A Standings (record, map score)
1. Invictus Gaming, 6-1-0, 13-1
T2. OG, 3-3-1, 9-5
T2. Virtus.pro, 4-1-2, 9-5
T4. Evil Geniuses, 3-2-2, 8-6
T4. Team Undying, 3-2-2, 8-6
T4. T1, 4-0-3, 8-6
7. Team Aster, 2-1-4, 5-9
8. Alliance, 1-2-5, 4-12
9. Thunder Predator, 0-0-7, 0-14
Group B Standings (record, map score)
1. PSG.LGD, 5-1-0, 11-1
2. Vici Gaming, 4-2-1, 10-4
3. Team Secret, 3-2-1, 8-4
4. beastcoast, 2-3-1, 7-5
T5. Elephant, 2-2-2, 6-6
T5. Team Spirit, 3-0-3, 6-6
7. Fnatic, 0-4-3, 4-10
T8. Quincy Crew, 0-2-4, 2-10
T8. SG esports, 1-0-5, 2-10
–Field Level Media.
