This article is part of our Dota 2 Recap series.
The Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017 continued on Monday with the second full day of the best-of-two round-robin group matches. Day 2 featured contentious play that resulted in a plethora of 1-1 draws as both groups played mostly intra-regional matchups.
OG continued its domination of Group A, keeping its clean sheet and putting themselves one series away from finishing the group stages with a perfect record of 5-0. With no standout players in either of its matches, it was OG's tenacious teamwork that was the star of the show on Day 2. Keeping a stony resolve in the face of adversity, OG snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Game 2 against LGD Forever Young, taking its first lead just two minutes before the game ended. No matter what happens tomorrow, OG has secured its spot in the upper bracket of the main event and left no doubters of its prowess on the road to the top.
On the opposite end of the spectrum in Group A, Team Faceless secured its spot in the lower bracket for the main event after repeating its Day 1 performance, getting swept by Wings Gaming and fighting Vici Gaming J to a draw. Despite shooting themselves in the foot during the group stage with odd lineups, no team will be happy to draw Team Faceless for a first round best-of-one.
With no clear frontrunner by the end of the second day, Group B will likely come down to the decider matches on Wednesday. After a strong opening day, the Chinese teams faltered in the face of the North American contenders on Day 2.
Newbee experienced the steepest drop, losing both of its series on the day. After putting themselves atop the table to start the group stages, Newbee started off Day 2 with a 2-0 loss to Evil Geniuses. Adding to its woes, Newbee was then swept by Invictus Gaming who, before the loss to Evil Geniuses, were tied for first with Newbee on the table at the end of Day 1. Newbee will be starting Day 3 in a tie for fourth place in Group B and will be firmly in control of its own destiny as it seeks to claim an upper bracket spot.
Fittingly, Newbee's Day 3 matchup will be against Team NP who claimed the second place table slot after a 1-1 draw with Team Liquid. Surprising the casters and competition alike, Team NP has performed above expectations by not losing any series thus far in the group stages. Hanging on in three series to earn the draw, Team NP managed to edge out Evil Geniuses on the table by the end of the second day and will have a one point advantage, along with an arguably easier matchup, during the decider matches on Wednesday.
