Aurora and Blacklist Advance But Talon Gets Ousted in Elite League Swiss Stage

In the swiss stage of Elite League 2024, the fate of all three Southeast Asian (SEA) teams rested on the final day. In the first series of the day, Blacklist Rivalry took down Virtus.pro 2-0 before Aurora won 2-1 over Team Secret. Aurora was playing with a stand-in since Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon was unavailable. For SEA fans, the day seemed flawless until Talon Esports suffered a defeat in the final series against Heroic by a 2-1 scoreline. As a result, Blacklist and Aurora move on to the next stage of Elite League, while Talon is eliminated in 17th-19th place.

Aurora and Blacklist qualify for Elite League round robin, Talon faces elimination

Blacklist International vs Virtus.pro

In the first series of the final day in Elite League’s swiss stage, Virtus.pro had a well rounded draft on paper, whilst Blacklist chose a lineup with a high level of physical damage. It was a sluggish start because both teams' cores, except the midlaners, needed some farm to pick up items, and Blacklist, upon hitting this initial item timing, dealt massive damage. Virtus.pro was able to get some kills but largely failed to teamfight since it lost heroes rapidly, resulting in a loss in 36 minutes.

Game 2 was considerably more competitive throughout, although Blacklist's heroes had greater networth later on, allowing them to grab those extra items. The team demonstrated exceptional teamwork and positioning to win in 56 minutes.

Aurora vs Team Secret

Aurora and Secret went up against one other, resulting in a series with Timbersaw as the highlight. The team that allowed the hero to sneak through at the drafting stage faced its wrath.

Secret acquired Timbersaw in the opening game, coupled with a high octane draft that overpowered Aurora to take a 1-0 lead. The second game witnessed a tight fight between the two, but with Aurora's Enigma, late-game teamfighting became comparatively simpler.

In the third game, Aurora's strong lanes and Timbersaw led early movements which helped the team maintain control of the game and win.

Talon Esports vs Heroic

Between Talon and Heroic, the former's physical damage focused draft in the first game proved effective against a lineup that included Death Prophet and Kunkka. Despite being up in kills, Talon's draft lacked early damage in the second game and Heroic with an Alchemist, Death Prophet, and Dragon Knight repeatedly pushed to win the second game.

Talon was outdrafted and outplayed in the decider by an aggressive squad that included Primal Beast, Axe, and Lifestealer. Windranger and Pangolier for Talon never had a game with poor KDAs, despite the flawless performance on their carry Morphing.

Aurora and Blacklist will be relieved to have made it to the next stage, particularly Blacklist since it has not qualified for major tier one events this season.

However, Talon will be disappointed for not being able to sustain the momentum it had in its first two series against Rest Farmers and Nigma Galaxy. To qualify, it needed one more win, but it lost three straight series.

In the round-robin stage, Aurora and Blacklist International find themselves in Group B, which appears to be the more challenging group on paper. In their initial series in the group, both teams will face off against each other in a Bo2.