Dota 2 ESL One Birmingham Day 1: G2.iG, OG, Tundra, and HEROIC lead while XG go winless in opening day of Group Stage

The Dota 2 scene will be closing the month of April with a lot of action in ESL One Birmingham 2024, where 12 of the best teams in the world will be fighting for their cut of a US$1 million prize pool.

ESL One Birmingham kicked off on Monday (22 April) with its three-day Group Stage, where the 12 participating teams were split into two groups of six teams each to fight for Playoff placement in a single round-robin format.

Chinese powerhouse G2.iG, Western European stalwarts OG and Tundra Esports, and South America's HEROIC shone in the opening day of the Group Stage by racking up the best records so far. Meanwhile, Chinese juggernauts and Dota 2 Elite League champions Xtreme Gaming (XG) was surprisingly the only team to go winless in day one.

Here's how all the action in day one of ESL One Birmingham 2024 went down:

G2.iG take early lead in competitive Group A

Group A is looking to be a bloodbath as all but one of the group's matches in day one ended in 1-1 ties. As a result, there is a four-way tie for second place in Group A between Team Falcons, Team Liquid, Shopify Rebellion, and Talon Esports, who all ended the day with a 2-2 record.

Meanwhile, G2.iG sit pretty above the pack with a 3-1 record off a 1-1 tie with Liquid and a 2-0 win over a struggling BetBoom Team, who ended the day at the bottom of the standings with a 1-3 record.

With how close the competition has been in Group A, it's way too early to call how things will shake out here by the end of the Group Stage. One or two losses will mean the difference between a spot in the Playoffs or a disappointing early exit.

With that said, two teams we expect to emerge out of the muck are Falcons and Liquid by virtue of being the two best squads of the group on paper. G2.iG should also maintain their Top 4 spot, though it's safe to say that an upper bracket berth is not a guarantee for them.

If nothing else, keep your eyes on Group A if you're looking for some high-stakes action in ESL One Birmingham.

OG, Tundra, HEROIC in three-way tie for top seed of Group B

While the competition in Group A has proven to be cutthroat, a clearer hierarchy seems to have been formed over in Group B — just not with the teams you would normally expect on top.

OG, Tundra, and HEROIC have staked their claim over most of the Playoff spots in Group B with 3-1 records over heavyweights such as Team Spirit, Gaimin Gladiators, and XG, who many pegged to be the ones topping the group before the tournament started.

OG and HEROIC notably took their leading spots at the expense of XG, who were surprisingly swept 0-2 by the former two teams. Meanwhile, Tundra scored their own surprising 2-0 sweep over Gaimin Gladiators. OG and Tundra then split their series 1-1 while HEROIC were forced to a draw by Spirit.

While it is still early into the Group Stage, it's not hard to see that the likes of XG, Gaimin Gladiators, and Spirit have uphill battles awaiting them if they hope to make the Playoffs. On the other hand, OG, Tundra, and HEROIC should be safe in the knowledge they will advance and will instead be focusing on fighting for the two upper bracket spots in the group.

Here are all the results of the matches in day one of the ESL One Birmingham Group Stage:

• Team Falcons 1-1 BetBoom Team

• Team Liquid 1-1 G2.iG

• Shopify Rebellion 1-1 Talon Esports

• Team Liquid 1-1 Talon Esports

• Team Falcons 1-1 Shopify Rebellion

• BetBoom Team 0-2 G2.iG

• Xtreme Gaming 0-2 OG

• Gaimin Gladiators 0-2 Tundra Esports

• Team Spirit 1-1 HEROIC

• Tundra Esports 1-1 OG

• Xtreme Gaming 0-2 HEROIC

• Team Spirit 1-1 Gaimin Gladiators

Here are the standings after day one of the ESL One Birmingham Group Stage:

Group A:

1. G2.iG: 3-1

2. Shopify Rebellion: 2-2

3. Talon Esports: 2-2

4. Team Falcons: 2-2

5. Team Liquid: 2-2

6. BetBoom Team: 1-3

Group B:

1. OG: 3-1

2. Tundra Esports: 3-1

3. HEROIC: 3-1

4. Team Spirit: 2-2

5. Gaimin Gladiators: 1-3

6. Xtreme Gaming: 0-4

ESL One Birmingham 2024 will take place from 22 to 28 April and features 12 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world fighting for their cut of a US$1 million prize pool. Also up for grabs are ESL Pro Tour (EPT) points, which will go towards qualification to this year's Riyadh Masters — which has become the biggest annual Dota 2 event in terms of prize money over the past year.

For everything you need to know about ESL One Birmingham 2024, check here.

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