Day 2 of the Dota 2 StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2 finals saw major teams clash in a fight for survival or to keep a berth in the upper bracket. Many faced their strongest opposition yet at the Los Angeles LAN.
The first elimination match of the day pitted Fnatic against CDEC.Youth, where CDEC.Youth took an early lead in the series thanks to He "inflame" Yongzheng's Batrider. Fnatic fought back to tie the series, and in game three Chai "Mushi" Yee Fung's 997 GPM Alchemist made the difference to put his team over CDEC.Youth 2-1.
F.R.I.E.N.D.S. fought Complexity in the second survival match, where the former Virtus.pro squad from the European qualifiers took Game 1 with an effective Drow Ranger-focused composition. Complexity swung back in stronger form to secure breathing room in Game 2, but were summarily shown the door in the third game by an 18/0/7 Slark from Ilya "ALOHADANCE" Korobkin, exiting the tournament in a 1-2 series.
In the top-billed match, EG and Natus Vincere (Na`Vi) faced off in the winner's bracket. The boys in blue fought well but couldn't seem to gain any traction against Na`Vi, with Dmitry "Ditya Ra" Minenkov putting up two stellar games in a row on Huskar. In a total game time just shy of 44 minutes, Na`Vi sent EG down to the loser's bracket 2-0.
In the final match-up of the day, between Digital Chaos and Team Secret, the two were evenly matched, trading convincing wins for an even 1-1 going into Game 3. Secret exhibited a calm, collected late-game approach and stalled out DC just long enough to take the game, advancing to the winner's bracket finals 2-1. There, Secret will meet Na`Vi as the tournament heads into its third day.