THE Cignal Ultra Warriors lived up to expectations, ruling the first-ever conference of The Nationals after beating the Suha-Execration Punishers in the Dota 2 best-of-five finals series 3-2 last Sunday at the Gariath Concepts in Eastwood City, Libis.
Cignal entered the championship round as the heavy favorites after it obtained an automatic berth with its league-best 13-3 record in the group stage of the country's first professional esports tournament.
Their skill was on full display after winning a convincing Game 1 in the finals.
Though the Punishers put their foot on the pedal as they racked up back-to-back wins, including a 27-minute stomp in Game 2, the Ultra Warriors stepped up and won the final two games behind a strong push-oriented lineup of Beastmaster, Pugna, Jakiro, Dazzle and Sven in the final game.
Prior to their finals showdown, the Punishers eliminated PLDT-Smart Omega in a best-of-three semifinal that also went the distance.
Overall, Suha-Execration played a total of eight games on playoff day.
With the victory, the Warriors won the top prize money of P400,000 for the three-week tournament, while the Punishers and second runner-up Omega got P200,000 and P100,000, respectively.