T1 WILL be the third and final Southeast Asian squad going to Sweden after they swept Polaris Esports, 2-0, in the DPC SEA tiebreakers to secure the final Stockholm Major spot.
Carlo "Kuku" Palad and company dominated game one, with midlaner Karl "Karl" Matthew Baldovino nabbed himself a 16/2/8 on his Storm Spirit in the 51-minute stomp.
Game 2 seemed like it was going to Polaris, with the all-Pinoy squad knocking down four of T1’s heroes in the 22nd minute. Polaris would repeat in the 23rd minute, taking down three heroes before catching out T1’s carry Lifestealer.
That team fight led to a massive 11k gold lead by the 27th-minute mark. But T1 would regain their footing via a massive team fight in the 32nd minute, where the team felled four of Polaris’ heroes at the cost of a Kuku buyback. Another team fight in the Dire Jungle saw T1 tackle Polaris’ carry Nature’s Prophet and support Shadow Demon, opening up the Roshan for the Aegis, Cheese, and even Aghanim’s Scepter.
This also equalized the gold, before gradually favoring T1.
Polaris would try to mount a comeback by grabbing a Rapier for Prophet carry but would prove futile as Karl, Kuku, and Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte Santos managed to stun lock the Prophet in a 58th-minute team fight on top of Polaris' last barracks, before ending the game at 59 minutes.
Karl was once again stellar on his Storm Spirit this time, grabbing a 10/4/16 KDA. Carry Gabbi also came up clutch on his Lifestealer with a 10/3/13 KDA. Support Kenny "Xepher" Deo stole the show on his support Pugna with a Heart of Terrasque, replenishing his team’s health and mana all throughout the team fights, and finished with a 5/6/27 KDA.
With the win, T1 earned themselves the third and final spot for the Stockholm Major as well as 160 much need DPC points as well as $27,000 or more than P1.4 million. Polaris on the other hand would get $26,000, or more than P1.3 million, as well as 80 DPC points.
Elsewhere in the DPC tiebreakers: Fnatic gets revenge, sweeps Boom Esports
Later in the day, Fnatic got their revenge, sweeping Boom Esports, 2-0, to earn the top seed in the second DPC SEA Tour for the season.
Boom looked in control of Game 1, grabbing a 7K net worth lead by the 22nd minute. Fnatic would mount their comeback as they sneaked Roshan out from under Boom’s noses. Boom would try to contest, but was too late and gave up two additional kills to Fnatic.
A smoke play gone wrong in the 31st minute saw Boom lose three against Fnatic's two heroes. By this time, Fnatic had evened out the gold lead. Fnatic won another team fight in the 35th minute as they outlasted Boom’s engage, losing no heroes to Boom’s four.
Boom would try several more engages on to Raven’s Medusa, but every single attempt was thwarted with great counter engages from Fnatic.
Fnatic would go on to end the game at 45 minutes. Raven had a 6/1/18 KDA on his Medusa, while midlaner Armel scored a 13/1/13 KDA as he cleaned up Boom’s failed engages.
It seemed that the game awoke something in Boom, as they managed to find a 13 to 0 kill score and 6k net worth advantage by the 19-minute mark in Game 2. But a team fight in the same minute saw Fnatic wipe Boom in the Radiant tTiangle, equalizing the net worth in the process.
Another team fight in the 24th minute saw Fnatic devour three of Boom’s heroes after a great counter-team fight. This would swing momentum back to Fnatic’s favor, leading to another Boom team wipe and a 7k gold lead in the 30th minute.
Boom would find respite after punishing Fnatic’s overextension in their base at the 34th, but Fnatic immediately put the pressure back as they punished Boom’s Roshan attempt, quickly taking down a low-health carry Ursa before proceeding to kill three other Boom heroes.
Fnatic would then go on to mount a systematic siege onto Boom’s high ground, grabbing mega creeps by the 43rd minute and ending the game at the 44th.
Fnatic captain Anucha "Jabz" Jirawong had an 11/5/14 performance on his Timbersaw. Marc Polo Luis "Raven" Fausto was once again a siege boss on his Medusa, earning a 3/3/16 KDA. Lastly, Armel Paul "Armel" Tabios had 6/3/15 on his signature Puck, which he reintroduced to Boom via big Dream coil counter engages.
With the win, Fnatic will be SEA’s top-seeded team heading to the Stockholm Major as well as earning themselves 400 crucial DPC points and $30,000, or more P 1.57 million. Boom, on the other hand, earns 240 DPC points and $28,000 or more than P1.46 million.
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