The Dallas Fuel, San Francisco Shock, Houston Outlaws and London Spitfire won opening-round games Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the Overwatch League Summer Showdown tournament in Toronto.
The top-seeded Fuel survived a scare from the Washington Justice 3-2, the No. 2 seed Shock beat the Titans 3-1, the No. 3 seed Outlaws blanked the Florida Mayhem 3-0 and the Spitfire upset the fourth-seeded Defiant 3-1.
The four losing teams moved into the losers' bracket of the double-elimination, $330,000 Summer Showdown. They'll be paired together for do-or-die matches Friday.
The Justice took a shocking 2-0 lead on the Fuel, which went undefeated during qualifiers. Washington took Ilios 2-0 and Paraiso 3-2. Dallas surged back, winning 2-1 on Circuit Royal and 1-0 on New Queen Street to tie the match before a decisive 2-0 victory on Lijiang Tower to survive and advance.
The Shock opened with a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower, but the Titans responded with a 3-1 result on Midtown. San Francisco took control from there, taking a 2-1 victory on Circuit Royal and a 1-0 win on New Queen Street.
The Outlaws had little trouble with Florida, winning 2-0 on Busan-UAT, 3-1 on Hollywood and 3-1 on Dorado for the sweep.
The Spitfire, which only cemented their Summer Showdown berth on the final day of qualifying, fell behind to host Toronto with a 2-0 loss on Ilios. They tied the match with a 3-2 result on Paraiso and went on to win 2-1 on Dorado and 1-0 on Colosseo.
The Summer Showdown continues Friday with four matches:
--Dallas Fuel vs. London Spitfire (semifinals)
--San Francisco Shock vs. Houston Outlaws (semifinals)
--Washington Justice vs. Toronto Defiant (losers' bracket Round 1)
--Vancouver Titans vs. Florida Mayhem (losers' bracket Round 1)
--Field Level Media