DOTA 2 T1 continues their fiery start to the DPC SEA Winter Tour Division I with a quick 2-0 sweep against Malaysian squad Team SMG.
Game 1 opened with SMG grabbing two quick early kills against Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon's Morphling. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to hold back the Thai player and the rest of T1, who simply found great pick-offs with Karl "Karl" Matthew Baldovino's Razor and Carlo "Kuku" Palad's Queen of Pain. They would end the game in 31 minutes, with Karl grabbing 12/4/13 KDA while Kuku had 8/1/23.
Game 2 looked like it would be close, with SMG matching T1’s farm despite constantly losing heroes early on. But the Malaysian squad failed to contain Karl and 23savage, who simply dominated them after an item bonanza. Karl once again had a field day on his Lina earning a 17/3/13 KDA while 23savage simply became too big on his Medusa with a 5/1/19 KDA.
With the win, T1 continues to hold its place atop Division I with a 2-0, standing while Team SMG remains at the middle of the pack with 1-1.
Division II update: Polaris survive Lilgun, Nigma Galaxy SEA outclass Talon
Meanwhile, all-Filipino Dota 2 squad Polaris esports needed to dig deep in two games as they survived Lilgun’s early outslaught to take their series 2-1.
Lilgun tried to cheese their way to a quick Game 1 with their Broodmother, Lycan picks hoping to deathball their way to a quick win. However, Polaris’ carry John Anthony “Natsumi-“ Vargas (Gyrocopter) and midlaner Mc Nicholson “Lelouch” Villanueva (Kunkka) were able to quickly farm their core items to stop the Mongolian’s pushing power and turn the tides for a 38-minute win.
Lilgun would strike back in Game 2 with their midlane Outworld Devourer, even grabbing himself a double Rampage to end the game.
Game 3 looked like it was going to go the Mongolians' way, as their high mobile lineup was able to constantly stalk Polaris’ heroes. They would go on to get a 14k net worth advantage 44 minutes in, just before Polaris’ comeback.
Polaris held on for 44 minutes before mounting a massive team fight, with Nikko “Force” Bilocura’s Enigma landing a massive Blackhole onto Lilgun’s carry Monkey King and midlane Timbersaw to turn momentum back to the Pinoys' side.
Lilgun looked to grab the Aegis once again in the 50-minute mark to finally push high ground. But Force once again found the opening needed to blink Blackhole the Mongolian’s two cores inside the Roshan pit. Polaris would then grab the Aegis before proceeding to high ground. Another massive team fight win in Lilgun’s triangle gave the 55-minute win to Polaris.
Natsumi had 13/5/12 on his Riki in the decider, Lelouch had 9/7/18 on his Kunkka, while Force added another 4 kills and 18 assists on the Enigma.
Nigma Galaxy SEA added to Talon Esports' misery as they outclassed the super team, 2-1
The Malaysia-based squad relied on their great itemization and team fighting to push back Talon. Indonesian carry Muhammad “InYourdreaM” Rizky’s Kunkka found a massive three-man Torrent Storm in the 52nd minute to turn around a Talon engage and finally break Talon.
InYourdreaM had 14/2/12 in the decider, while mid-laner Hiew Teck “AlaCrity” Yoong had 11/6/18 on his Monkey King. Offlaner Galvin Kang “Meracle” Jian Wen was also huge in the decider, nabbing 24 assists on his Spirit Breaker and denying Talon’s offlane Magnus any chance of blink RPs by constantly targeting him.
Roaming support Tri “Jhocam” Kuncoro landed huge arrows on his Mirana, getting himself 6 kills and 27 assists in the process.
Polaris now holds the top spot in Division with a 3-0 record while Nigma Galaxy SEA comes second with 2-0. Lilgun sits in the middle of the pack with 1-1. Meanwhile, Talon now finds themselves needing a win as they fall to 0-2.