GamerLegion, HEROIC pull out opening wins at IEM Dallas

GamerLegion and HEROIC rallied for wins on Monday as play got underway at the Intel Extreme Masters Dallas.

In Group A, GamerLegion overtook 3DMAX 2-1, and in Group B, HEROIC charged past Aurora Gaming.

The $300,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with 16 teams diving into two double-elimination groups. The group winners will clinch playoff semifinal berths.

The group runners-up will enter the quarterfinals as high seeds, and the two third-place teams will move into the quarterfinals as low seeds. The other five teams in each group will be eliminated.

All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three except for the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-five.

The winning team will earn $125,000, the runner-up will make $50,000.

On Monday, 3DMAX opened with a 13-4 win on Anubis before GamerLegion took Ancient 13-9 and Nuke 13-11. Sweden's Fredrik "REZ" Sterner paced GamerLegion with 52 kills and a plus-9 kill-death differential. Pierre "Ex3rcice" Bulinge produced 47 kills and an even K-D differential for all-French 3DMAX.

In other Group A action, Team Vitality shut out Legacy 2-0, The MongolZ blanked FURIA 2-0 and G2 Esports downed Lynn Vision Gaming 2-0.

After Aurora Gaming captured Dust II 13-9, HEROIC prevailed 13-10 on Anubis, 13-6 on Mirage. Sweden's Simon "yxngstxr" Boije led HEROIC with 59 kills and a plus-20 K-D differential. Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dortkardes wound up with 48 kills and a plus-1 K-D differential for all-Turkish Aurora Gaming.

Elsewhere in Group B, MOUZ dumped BC.Game Esports 2-0, Team Liquid toppled FaZe Clan 2-0 and Team Falcons trounced NRG 2-0.

Eight matches are scheduled for Tuesday:

--Group A upper-bracket semifinal: Team Vitality vs. GamerLegion

--Group A upper-bracket semifinal: The MongolZ vs. G2 Esports

--Group B upper-bracket semifinal: MOUZ vs. Team Liquid

--Group B upper-bracket semifinal: HEROIC vs. Team Falcons

--Group A lower-bracket quarterfinal: Legacy vs. 3DMAX

--Group A lower-bracket quarterfinal: FURIA vs. Lynn Vision Gaming

--Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal: BC.Game Esports vs. FaZe Clan

--Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal: Aurora Gaming vs. NRG

Intel Extreme Masters Dallas prize pool

1. $125,000

2. $50,000

3-4. $25,000

5-6. $12,500

7-8. $7,000

9-12. $5,000

13-16. $4,000