Nigma, Alliance advance at BLAST Bounty Hunt

Alliance Prize money through Tuesday (Active pool, bounty pool):Alliance -- $21,000, $5,000 Team Nigma -- $21,000, $5,000Team Secret -- $20,000, 0 OG -- $20,000, 0Team Liquid -- $9,000, 0 Ninjas in Pyjamas -- $9,000, 0--Field Level Media

Team Nigma and Alliance each won on Tuesday to advance to the upper-bracket semifinals, as the $145,000 BLAST Bounty Hunt Dota 2 online event kicked off. Nigma battled past Team Liquid 2-1, while Alliance swept Ninjas in Pyjamas in the best-of-three format. Nigma will next face Team Secret on Wednesday, while Alliance will play OG.

Liquid and NiP fell into the lower bracket and will await opponents for matches on Thursday. The playoffs-only event features six teams, all of whom were invited, with Secret and OG getting byes to the upper-bracket semifinals. All matches are best-of-three until Saturday's best-of-five grand final.

Rather than prize money based on finishing position, each team began with an active cash pool: $20,000 each for Secret and OG and $15,000 for the other four teams. Each match winner takes 40 percent of their opponent's active cash pool, meaning Nigma and Alliance each claimed $6,000 from their opponents on Tuesday. There is also $45,000 available via bounty hunt, with prizes awarded for various accomplishments. Nigma won $5,000 Tuesday for keeping one team member alive for the duration of a game, while Alliance won $5,000 for not allowing NiP to gain control of their outpost for a whole game. Still available are a $20,000 prize for killing a single enemy player 20 times in one game, and a $15,000 prize for killing at least nine of the opponent's couriers in a game.

Nigma opened with a 27-minute victory over Liquid on Tuesday, but Liquid leveled it with a 37-minute win. Nigma responded in the decider with a victory in 40 minutes. Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi led the way with a kills/deaths/assists ratio of 11/2.7/6.7. Alliance made relatively quick work of NiP, winning the first game in 25 minutes and the second in 40. Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov finished with a 13.5/3.5/12 KDA ratio in the comfortable victory.

Wednesday's schedule: Team Secret vs. Team Nigma

OG vs. Alliance Prize money through Tuesday (Active pool, bounty pool):

Alliance -- $21,000, $5,000 Team Nigma -- $21,000, $5,000

Team Secret -- $20,000, 0 OG -- $20,000, 0

Team Liquid -- $9,000, 0 Ninjas in Pyjamas -- $9,000, 0