Defending champion OG and PSG.LGD finished at the top of their respective groups at Dota 2's The International 9 on Sunday, setting the stage for the main event at the $33 million tournament in Shanghai, China.
The top four teams in each group advanced to the upper bracket of the main event, the bottom team in each group was eliminated and the remaining teams were sent to the lower bracket of the main event.
Teams in the upper bracket will play best-of-3 matches, while the lower bracket matches will be single-elimination.
OG, the Group B leader who came into the final day at 13-1, split their final series against Vici Gaming to finish at 14-2. Vici, who swept Natus Vincere in their other match, finished second in Group B at 11-5.
OG's only other loss in group play was a split in their opening series.
PSG.LGD split their final series vs. Alliance but finished atop Group A with a 13-3 record.
Team Secret, which started a perfect 8-0 over the first two days of play, split a series against the already eliminated Chaos Esports to finish 11-5, good for second in Group A.
Newbee and TNC Predator, who both finished 9-7, locked up the final two upper bracket spots in Group A. Newbee earned their spot with a split against Mineski, while TNC swept Team Liquid.
Group B wrapped up play with more drama, as Evil Geniuses and Virtus.pro claimed the final two upper-bracket spots. EG and Virtus.pro split a series against each other before sweeping Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic, respectively, to finish strong. Virtus.pro began the day at 5-7, but their 8-8 finish left them ahead of three 7-9 teams.
Chaos Esports Club and Ninjas in Pyjamas finished last in their groups and take home $83,123 for tying for 17th place at the tournament.
The International features 18 teams vying for the largest-ever prize pool in esports, with more than $33 million in the pot for competitions. The winning team will take home more than $15 million.
Here are the first-round matches for the main event.
Upper bracket
PSG.LGD vs. Virtus.pro
Vici Gaming vs. TNC Predator
OG vs. Newbee
Team Secret vs. Evil Geniuses
Lower bracket
Alliance vs. Royal Never Give Up
Fnatic vs. Team Liquid
Infamous vs. Keen Gaming
Mineski vs. Natus Vincere
-- Field Level Media