Four teams open PGL Wallachia Season 9 with 2-0 records

PGL Wallachia Season 9 has already begun to separate the early leaders from the rest of the field. Xtreme Gaming, LGD Gaming, Natus Vincere, and Team Yandex all came through the first two rounds without a series loss, reaching 2-0 in the Swiss group stage after their matches on September 20 in Bucharest.

The unbeaten start put each team one victory away from the playoffs. Xtreme and Yandex have since converted that advantage into qualification, while LGD and NAVI dropped to 2-1 after the four teams met each other in Round 3.

Xtreme Gaming needed three games to secure its second victory of the tournament. Conventus Stellarum took the opening map before Xtreme responded with back-to-back wins to complete the 2-1 comeback.

That result followed Xtreme's 2-0 victory over Pibbles Corp in the opening round. The Chinese lineup entered Round 3 at 2-0 with only one map lost across its first two series.

Xtreme then faced fellow unbeaten side LGD Gaming. A 2-0 victory moved Xtreme to 3-0 and secured a place in the playoffs without needing either of the final two Swiss rounds.

LGD Gaming joined Xtreme at 2-0 after beating GamerLegion in straight games. The result was more comfortable than its opening series, where LGD needed all three maps to defeat Yakult Brothers.

Natus Vincere also reached 2-0 without dropping a map. NAVI swept Hokori in Round 1 before producing another 2-0 victory against Aurora Gaming.

That gave NAVI the strongest map record among the four unbeaten teams after two rounds, with four wins and no losses. Its perfect run ended in Round 3 against Team Yandex, which won the series 2-0.

LGD also suffered its first defeat against Xtreme. Both NAVI and LGD are now 2-1 and need one more series win to secure a playoff place.

Team Yandex began its tournament with a 2-1 win over MOUZ before facing Team Nemesis in the second round. Yandex won that series 2-0 to join Xtreme, LGD, and NAVI at the top of the standings.

The 2-0 teams were then paired against each other in Round 3. Yandex swept NAVI to improve to 3-0 and join Xtreme Gaming as the first two teams confirmed for the playoffs. Both teams completed their opening three series with 6-1 map records.

PGL Wallachia Season 9 features 16 Dota 2 teams competing through a modified Swiss group stage. Teams qualify for the playoffs after reaching three series wins, while three losses result in elimination.

The top eight teams will move into the double-elimination playoffs beginning September 24. PGL Wallachia Season 9 runs through September 27 at PGL Studios in Bucharest, with a $1 million prize pool and $300,000 going to the champion.