AFTER THREE WEEKS straight of Dota 2 action, Southeast Asia’s three reps for the first DPC Major have stood out among the rest, with all-Pinoy squad Execration surprising the pack to come out on top.
Execration finished the first tour with 6-1 record, losing only to Andrei “skem” Ong, who led Geek Slate in the second week of the tour. It was a surprise twist for many as the Pinoys became the first team in the SEA DPC to top Division I right after coming from Division II.
The Pinoys only had a slight roster shift in the offseason, letting go of former captain Ralph Richard “RR” Penano for Juan Carlo “BDz” Manalo for position 5. Besides a captain change, the squad also brought in Park “March” Tae-won as the team's coach last December.
The addition of March made wonders for the team who were already on the up-and-up since the season ended.
Finishing the tour first also earned 300 DPC points and $300,000 (around P16.4 million) for the squad composed of Jinn Marrey “Palos” Lamatao, Mark Anthony “Bob” Urbina, Justine Ryan “Tino” Grimaldo, Mark Jubert “Shanks” Redira, and Juan Carlo “BDz” Manalo.
Geek Slate also breaks Blacklist for Lima Major slot
Meanwhile, it boiled down to the final match of the DPC for Geek Slate to earn their spot to Lima. Both Geek Slate and Blacklist International were 4-2 going into the final day of the DPC. The winner would secure their spot for the Major, while the loser needed to go through a tie-breaker against Talon Esports.
It was Blacklist who took first blood, winning a dominant Game 1. Geek Slate managed to even the series in game two after a 74-minute slugfest.
Game 3 looked like it would easily go to Geek Slate as they earned themselves a massive early to mid-game lead. But Blacklist would hold on, even reclaiming the net-worth lead and forcing another 70+ minute game. But it would be Geek Slate who would come out on top as they took down both carries on Blacklist before heading straight towards the Radiant’s ancient.
Geek Slate, composed of Pinoys Andrei “skem” Ong, Joshua “Kokz” Maraño, Nikko “Force” Bilocura and supports Mongolian Ravdan “NARMAN” Narmandakh and Malaysian Roger Tan “Roddgeee” Boon Thye, finish the tour with a 5-2 record netting themselves 180 DPC points and $28,000 (around P1.52 million).
Rounding out the SEA reps are Talon Esports, who swept Blacklist International, 2-0, in the DPC tiebreaker.
It was redemption for Talon who had a chance to secure their DPC spot against a 0-6 Fnatic last Friday. Fnatic played party-pooper for Talon as they swept the 23Savage-led squad just before going down to Division II.
With the win against Blacklist, Talon secures their second Major appearance as well as 120 DPC points and $27,000 (around P1.47 million).
Major struggles for these SEA mainstays
The DPC SEA Division Winter Tour also saw big names go down to Division II.
Fnatic and Boom Esport found themselves in the opposite side of the ladder from last season as they fell to Division II. Fnatic struggled to find their groove in the tour, finishing with a dismal 0-6 record prior to Friday’s shocker.
Meanwhile, Boom Esports looked like they are still adjusting to the new roster finishing with a 2-5 record.
Boom had a chance to avoid relegation when they faced Blacklist last Friday. The Indonesia-based squad needed to win against Blacklist to force a triple tiebreaker scenario for relegation.
They managed to take Game 1, but Blacklist came back with a strong game two to force the decider. Boom looked great in the early game as they found a lead. But a 22nd-minute team fight on Blacklist’s triangle would shift the momentum back to Blacklist who would go on to end the game in under 38 minutes.
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