(Photo credit: John Meore/The Journal News)

Aurora Gaming and BetBoom Team rallied for 2-1 wins on Friday, earning spots in the upper-bracket final of the PGL Wallachia Season 8 event at Bucharest, Romania.

Aurora Gaming roared back against PARIVISION, and BetBoom Team charged past Team Liquid.

Lower-bracket action got underway on Friday, with South America Rejects edging HEROIC 2-1 and Team Falcons taking down Team Spirit 2-0.

Sixteen teams began the $1 million Dota 2 tournament with the top eight advancing from the Swiss-system group stage. The double-elimination playoffs continue with all matches best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday. The winning side will take home $300,000.

On Friday, PARIVISION opened with a 29-minute win on red, but Aurora Gaming responded with a two victories on red, in 43 minutes and 59 minutes. Indonesia's Rafli 'Mikoto' Fathur Rahman paced Aurora Gaming with a 19-6-34 kill-death-assist ratio. Ukraine's Volodymyr 'No[o]ne-' Minenko wound up at 17-12-28 for PARIVISION.

After Team Liquid took a 35-minute victory on green, BetBoom Team pulled level in 46 minutes on green, then sealed the series in 43 minutes on red. Russia's Ilya 'Kiritych' Ulyanov posted a 23-9-34 K-D-A ratio for BetBoom Team. Poland's Michal 'Nisha' Jankowski ended up at 22-14-25 for Team Liquid.

South America Rejects sandwiched two wins on green, in 45 minutes and 48 minutes, around HEROIC's 51-minute triumph on red. Peru's Frank 'Frank' Ayala registered a 27-12-46 K-D-A ratio for South America Rejects. Another Peruvian player, Santiago 'TaiLung' Aguero Gustavo, finished at 26-18-39 for HEROIC.

Team Falcons toppled Team Spirit in 41 minutes on green and 66 minutes on red. Jordan's Ammar 'ATF' Al-Assaf powered Team Falcons with a 23-8-34 K-D-A ratio. Ukraine's Bohdan 'Batyuk' Batiuk notched a 13-17-17 K-D-A ratio for Team Spirit.

The weekend schedule:

Saturday

Upper-bracket final -- Aurora Gaming vs. BetBoom Team

Lower-bracket quarterfinal -- Team Liquid vs. South America Rejects

Lower-bracket quarterfinal -- PARIVISION vs. Team Falcons

Lower-bracket semifinal -- Team Liquid/South America Rejects winner vs. PARIVISION/Team Falcons winner

Sunday

Lower-bracket final -- Lower-bracket semifinal winner vs. Aurora Gaming/BetBoom Team loser

Grand final -- Aurora Gaming/BetBoom Team winner vs. lower-bracket final winner

PGL Wallachia Season 8 prize pool

1. $300,000 -- TBD

2. $175,000 -- TBD

3. $120,000 -- TBD

4. $80,000 -- TBD

5-6. $60,000 -- TBD

7-8. $40,000 -- HEROIC, Team Spirit

9-11. $20,000 -- GamerLegion, Xtreme Gaming, MOUZ

12-14. $15,000 -- Vici Gaming, Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere

15-16. $10,000 -- Team Yandex, Tundra Esports

--Field Level Media