In the lower bracket of the Dota 2 Berlin Major, Aster, Liquid, and EG have advanced to the second round

As the ESL One Berlin Major 2023 Playoffs progress, the lower bracket's first round has already witnessed prominent teams exiting the competition. The likes of TI10 champions Team Spirit, Xtreme Gaming from China, and Shopify Rebellion from North America have been knocked out. However, Team Aster, Team Liquid, and Evil Geniuses (EG) have managed to move ahead to the second round of the lower bracket. To catch up on all the happenings during the second day of the Berlin Major Playoffs, keep reading for a comprehensive analysis.

Team Aster 2-0 Team Spirit

The day kicked off with a match between China's Team Aster, who had Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan as a stand-in, and TI10 champions Team Spirit, who were pushed down to the lower bracket by the Gaimin Gladiators on the first day of the Playoffs.

SumaiL's outstanding gameplay in game one, where he scored an impressive 17 kills and 17 assists as Windranger, was one of the major highlights of the Major. His exceptional performance helped Aster crush Spirit 42-11 in a 37-minute game.

In game two, SumaiL once again showcased his skills as Windranger, alongside Du "Monet" Peng's Alchemist. The duo managed to secure a 2-0 series sweep in just 44 minutes, with a combined 24 kills and 37 assists against only seven deaths. This one-two punch proved to be too much for Spirit to handle, and they were knocked out of the Major.

Team Liquid 2-1 Xtreme Gaming

The second series of the day saw a shaky Team Liquid take on the second of three Chinese teams in the lower bracket: Xtreme Gaming. While Xtreme put up a good fight, Liquid still emerged victorious in three games and are slowly regaining their once-dominant form.

Xtreme came out swinging to start the series and outlasted Liquid in a 53-minute slugfest in game one behind Daniel "Ghost" Chan's Drow Ranger, who finished with 15 kills against two deaths.

Liquid struck back hard in game two, utterly dominating Xtreme to the tune of a very lopsided 28-4 kill lead in just 26 minutes. The Western European juggernauts kept the ball rolling in the decider, ousting their Chinese opponents from the Major after a 28-11, 41-minute rout.

Evil Geniuses 2-0 Shopify Rebellion

The final series of the day featured a showdown between the North American team Shopify Rebellion and South America's EG. The last time these two teams met in a Major Playoff was during the lower bracket quarterfinals of the Lima Major, where Shopify Rebellion knocked EG out of the tournament in front of their home crowd. However, EG managed to get their revenge in the most one-sided match of the Berlin Major so far, sweeping Shopify Rebellion in a combined 56 minutes of gameplay and sending them packing.

EG started the match by one-upping Liquid's dominant win over Xtreme with an even more impressive performance, racking up 28 kills while only conceding three deaths in just 29 minutes. Crhistian "Pakazs" Savina then delivered a stellar performance on Alchemist, finishing with 10 kills and a net worth of 26,800 gold, as EG ended Shopify Rebellion's run in Berlin with a 27-minute beatdown.

With these results, Aster, Liquid, and EG have all secured at least a Top 8 finish, as well as US$12,500 and 200 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points in winnings. They will now advance to the next round of the lower bracket, where they will face off against each other.

Aster will face Liquid, while EG will take on the winner of the last lower bracket round 1 match between China's PSG.LGD and Southeast Asia's Talon Esports, which will open day three of the Playoffs.

The Berlin Major Playoffs follows a double-elimination format where all matches, except for the Grand Finals, which will be a full best-of-five series, are best-of-three. The tournament will take place from 26 April to 7 May and will feature 18 of the best teams in the DPC competing for their share of the US$500,000 prize pool and 2,700 DPC point pool. These points will contribute to securing direct invites to this year's iteration of The International, Dota 2's annual multimillion-dollar world championship tournament.