9Pandas jumped out to a 2-0 start in Group A on the first day of DreamLeague Season 21 action Monday.
9Pandas defeated both Team Liquid and Talon Esports 2-0. Entity and Shopify Rebellion are close behind, each earning one win and one draw.
In Group B, BetBoom Team, OG and Team Spirit formed a three-way tie atop the standings with one win and one draw apiece.
Twelve teams from around the world are competing at the $1 million DreamLeague Season 21 event. The group stage runs Monday through Wednesday with two round-robin groups of six teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the third and fourth-place teams advance to the lower bracket and the rest are eliminated.
The playoffs run Thursday through Sunday in a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which is best-of-five.
On Monday, 9Pandas beat Liquid in 35 minutes and 38 minutes, playing both maps on green. They proceeded to beat Talon in 33 minutes on red and 45 minutes on green.
Shopify Rebellion opened their match with Entity with a 45-minute win on red before Entity made it a draw, also winning in 45 minutes on red. Shopify went on to beat Tundra Esports and Entity took down Liquid.
In Group B, Team Spirit beat Gaimin Gladiators in 37 minutes and 40 minutes on green. BetBoom topped Quest Esports in 44 minutes and 40 minutes, both on green. And OG earned a 77-minute marathon win on red before winning in 50 minutes on green to blank Evil Geniuses.
Group Stage standings (match W-D-L, map record)
Group A
1. 9Pandas, 2-0-0, 4-0
T2. Entity, 1-1-0, 3-1
T2. Shopify Rebellion, 1-1-0, 3-1
4. Tundra Esports, 1-0-1, 2-2
T5. Talon Esports, 0-0-2, 0-4
T5. Team Liquid, 0-0-2, 0-4
Group B
T1. BetBoom Team, 1-1-0, 3-1
T1. OG, 1-1-0, 3-1
T1. Team Spirit, 1-1-0, 3-1
T4. Evil Geniuses, 0-1-1, 1-3
T4. Gaimin Gladiators, 0-1-1, 1-3
T4. Quest Esports, 0-1-1, 1-3
DreamLeague Season 21 prize pool:
1. $300,000
2. $175,000
3. $120,000
4. $85,000
5-6. $57,500
7-8. $47,500
9-10. $30,000
11-12. $25,000
–Field Level Media