Six Mexico Major: Key takeaways from Day 1

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A wild first day of the Mexico Major saw some tragic losses and heroic victories, stellar performances, and regrettable starts to Major campaigns. Here are the winners and losers of the day, the statistics that defined the day, and three matches to watch tomorrow. 

Winners and Losers

Winners

Team Liquid

Team Liquid took a commanding lead in Group D, the group of death, with two massive wins over Team Empire and TSM. Even though Liquid raced all the way to the grand final of SI 2021, there were those who thought that the Brazilians might not make it out of the difficult group D. Liquid put all thoughts of its demise to bed, at least for now, and took a commanding lead in the group. 

Team BDS

Despite a lackluster EUL stage and an underwhelming SI 2021 run, BDS looked like its old, high-flying self with two quick victories over CAG and Team oNe. Many thought that BDS might have lost a step or two, but all seems to be well for the French superteam thus far. 

Losers

TSM

Despite the loss of Bryan “Merc” Wrzek, there’s just no way an 0-2 day is acceptable for a team of TSM’s caliber. Analysts and fans had projected this team to make it out of the group of death even after Merc couldn’t attend due to a positive COVID-19 test. But without their spearhead, TSM look a bit lost in terms of how its positions are working out, and it could suffer an early exit from Mexico if its players can’t find their footing soon. 

G2 Esports

It really did not look good for a seemingly solid G2 roster. The Europeans were first rinsed by Nick “njr” Rapier and DarkZero Esports in a 2-7 loss. Then, they were slated for a bit of an easier game against DWG KIA, but the Korean side posted an excellent performance and forced G2 into an 0-2 opening day.

What made matters worse was that the G2-DWG KIA game had been played with a DWG stand-in and had been delayed by an hour and a half. Waiting that long, for that amount of disappointment certainly earns a spot on this list. 

Stats of the day

Muzi posts three 1vXs against DarkZero

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. DarkZero Esports was arguably the best match of the first day. If not for Murilo "Muzi" Moscatelli, LATAM hopes might have taken a massive blow. Muzi notched a staggering three 1vXs against DarkZero during a truly epic 8-7 overtime victory against the North American side. 

Njr posts sky-high Rating

G2’s players will surely be seeing njr when they close their eyes. In DarkZero’s opening bout the youngster posted 19 kills to a mere two deaths. K-D aside, njr had a 100 percent KOST, went 2-0 on entry kills, and posted over two kills per round. His final SiegeGG Rating? One of the highest ever: 2.51. He dominated from start to finish. 

Dan the pacemaker

Team Empire’s Danila “dan” Dontsov posted a 7-1 entry statistic over the two games Empire played on the day, good for best among all players. He’s been one of Empire’s rocks throughout the duration of this roster’s reign, and despite Empire’s early slips, he’s having a good tournament.  

Where’s Oregon?

For the first time in what feels like forever, Oregon was not played once on the day. Across the regions, Oregon is a widely-played map, and it’s a bit strange that it wasn’t seen once on the opening day. Oregon is one of the most defender-sided maps in the game and not seeing it once in an international competition feels like an anomaly. 

Matches to watch on Day 2

The second day will feature many “set-up” matches -- day three will be the big decider for many teams that are on the border of making the playoffs. Here are three matches that could mean the difference between a spot in the playoffs and going home only when all is said and done. 

TSM vs Invictus

Invictus’s victory over TSM and TSM’s loss to Empire means one thing: TSM needs to win every single game from this point onward to have a chance at playoffs. Invictus could potentially secure a shot at an unthinkable top-two finish in the group of death with a victory in this match.

There will be lots at stake here and a potential score to settle for TSM, who has lost to this roster in two straight international upsets. If TSM loses to Empire before this match, though, this one could be just for pride. 

Team oNe vs CAG

Team oNe was predicted by many to make it out of its group to the playoff stage, but it’s looking like the players desperately need a victory just to keep their heads above water. Their best chance to right their ship is against CAG before a monster battle with BDS later in the day.

CAG had a solid outing on the first day and could score a crucial win against Team oNe here. This match is one of a pair of matches that could draw a strict divider between the top and bottom of group A. 

DarkZero vs DWG

DWG has been dealt a tough hand after their second match of the day had to be postponed due to technical difficulties. The surging Korean squad thumped G2, but can it defeat a DarkZero team that just pushed NiP to the brink? The same, essentially, goes for DarkZero: can the surging NA team defeat DWG and set itself up to score a spot in the playoffs?