Alliance came from behind the beat Team Secret 2-1, and VP.Prodigy edged Team Nigma 2-1 on Wednesday as the upper-bracket playoffs of the ESL One Birmingham Online's Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States event got underway.

VP.Prodigy and Alliance will square off Friday in the upper-bracket final, with the winner advancing to the grand final on Sunday.

The two Wednesday losers drop into the lower bracket, where they will play Thursday. Team Secret will oppose FlyToMoon, and Team Nigma will face Team Liquid, with the winners to meet on Friday. The winner of the Friday lower-bracket matchup will oppose the VP.Prodigy-Alliance loser on Saturday.

ESL One Birmingham, a $300,000 Dota 2 major, had been scheduled for last week in Birmingham, England, before plans were changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament was separated into four online regional competitions: Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States, North America/South America, China and Southeast Asia.

The $40,000, six-team Southeast Asia event concluded last week with Fnatic winning the championship. The other three divisions -- Europe/CIS (16 teams, $200,000), the Americas (six teams, $40,000) and China (eight teams, $55,000) -- will conclude Sunday.

The Europe/CIS event featured two eight-team groups for round-robin play in best-of-three matches. The top two teams in each group advanced to the upper bracket of the double-elimination playoffs, and the third- and fourth-place teams earned spots in the lower bracket. The bottom four teams in each group saw their tournament end last Sunday.

All playoff matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five final.

On Wednesday, Secret opened with a 21-minute win, but Alliance rallied to claim the next two games in 31 and 38 minutes.

VP.Prodigy jumped on top with a 46-minute triumph, but Nigma drew level with a 25-minute victory. VP.Prodigy then sealed the series with a 40-minute win.

ESL One Birmingham Online -- Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States schedule

Thursday's lower-bracket second round

Team Secret vs. FlyToMoon

Team Nigma vs. Team Liquid

Friday's upper-bracket final

Alliance vs. VP.Prodigy

ESL One Birmingham Online -- Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States prize pool

1. $60,000

2. $38,000

3. $25,000

4. $14,000

5-6. $10,000

7-8. $7,500 -- Vikin.gg, HellRaisers

9-10. $5,000 -- Natus Vincere, Cyber Legacy

11-12. $4,000 -- Team Unique, Ninjas in Pyjamas

13-14. $3,000 -- Family Team, OG

15-16. $2,000 -- Gambit Esports, Winstrike Team

--Field Level Media