THE WIRE is f0rmless’s weekly esports dispatch — the matches that just concluded, and the marquee slate ahead, across sixteen titles. A new edition posts every Monday. The schedule board stays spoiler-free; the calls live here.
TEAM YANDEX SWEPT NATUS VINCERE 3–0 TO WIN PGL WALLACHIA SEASON 9 WITHOUT DROPPING A SERIES
▲ Results ahead — the Wire calls the week as it happened.
PGL Wallachia Season 9 closed in Bucharest and produced the week’s biggest room — Team Nemesis against Natus Vincere, 24,726 — and Dota 2 goes straight into BLAST Slam 8 in Malta on Tuesday.
See the slateA best-of-five Grand Final that never went past three games. Natus Vincere came in from the lower bracket, having beaten LGD Gaming 2–1 in the Lower Bracket Final that morning.
BracketWent 3–0 through the Swiss stage, then beat 1w Team 2–0, Aurora Gaming 2–1, and LGD Gaming 2–0 on the way to the Grand Final. Seven series, seven wins.
Liquipedia page▌ By the numbers · Sep 21–27
▌ Match by match · Sep 21–27
Dota 2 closed PGL Wallachia Season 9 in Bucharest, and Natus Vincere’s lower-bracket series against Team Nemesis drew the week’s largest room, 24,726. VALORANT Champions opened its group stage in China, where the team from the lower seeding pool won five of the eight opening series. In North America, Team Liquid beat Cloud9 3–1 to reach the LCS Summer Grand Final. Rainbow Six’s Europe MENA League played two more days, and Virtus.pro and Team Secret each won both of their matches. Of 350 matches settled across 12 games, Sunday was the busiest day.
Team Yandex won the upper bracket and the title. Natus Vincere lost its first playoff series to LGD Gaming, then won four in a row through the lower bracket before the Grand Final.
The seeding draw put one team from each of four pools in every group. G2 Esports, from Pool 4, swept Pool 1’s TYLOO. Team Vitality (Pool 4) beat Global Esports (Pool 1), and Pool 3’s Paper Rex, NRG, and FUT Esports each beat a Pool 2 side.
Team Liquid won the Upper Bracket Final over Cloud9. In the lower bracket, Shopify Rebellion beat FlyQuest in five games, then fell to Lyon a day later.
Playdays 5 and 6 of the group stage. Virtus.pro beat Twisted Minds and Team Falcons, both 7–4. Team Secret beat Geekay Esports 8–6 and Twisted Minds 7–3.
★ Most watched — biggest live audience of the week·⚡ Upset — a verified underdog win
The week ahead ▶Sep 28 – Oct 4
VALORANT Champions finishes its group stage this week. On Tuesday, G2 Esports meet Paper Rex and Karmine Corp meet NRG in the winners’ matches. Dota 2 opens BLAST Slam 8 the same day, with Team Spirit against Team Nemesis and 1w Team against Natus Vincere. In the LCS, Cloud9 and Lyon play the Lower Bracket Final on Saturday; the winner faces Team Liquid in Sunday’s Grand Final. Rainbow Six’s Europe MENA League plays Playdays 8 and 9. The board does not pick winners; it only tells you where to be, and when. Set a reminder, and your own device will call you to the stream.
The group winners’ matches: G2 Esports against Paper Rex in Group C, Karmine Corp against NRG in Group D. The top two in each group go to the playoffs.
Sixteen teams, four groups, a $750K pool. PGL Wallachia runner-up Natus Vincere opens against 1w Team.
Cloud9 against Lyon for a Grand Final place. Team Liquid waits on Sunday, October 4.
Playdays 8 and 9. Team Falcons play Geekay Esports on Tuesday and Twisted Minds on Wednesday.
WATCHED BY THE F0RMLESS