Thunder Predator captures BTS Pro Series: Americas opener

Thunder Predator rallied for a win while business associates swept to a victory Friday as BTS Pro Series: Americas play got underway. After dropping the first map to FURIA Esports in 47 matches, Thunder Predator bounced back for a 2-1 win by producing 35-minute and 22-minute victories.

Business associates cruised past Cloud9 2-0 with 34- and 27-minute wins. The online Dota 2 event features eight teams competing for a $50,000 prize pool, with $21,000 going to the tournament winner.

All matches in the round-robin group stage are best-of-three. The top four teams will advance to the upper bracket in the double-elimination playoff format while the fifth- and sixth-place teams gain entry into the lower bracket. The bottom two teams are eliminated.

All playoff matches will be best-of three before the grand final on April 26, which will feature a best-of-five format. The action continues on Saturday with two matches:

Evil Geniuses vs. Thunder Predator CR4ZY vs. Cloud9

BTS Pro Series: Americas standings through Friday (map record in parentheses) T1. business associates, 1-0 (2-0)

T1. Thunder Predator, 1-0 (2-1) T3. beastcoast, 0-0 (0-0)

T3. CR4ZY, 0-0 (0-0) T3. Evil Geniuses, 0-0 (0-0)

T3. Quincy Crew, 0-0 (0-0) T7. FURIA Esports, 0-1 (1-2)

T7. Cloud9, 0-1 (0-2) --Field Level Media