Pinoy Dota 2 gamers fought bravely in fierce Manila competition

The recently-concluded Manila Masters pitted the world’s greatest Dota 2 teams against each other in three days of grueling battle. Day 1 of the event saw the elimination of two teams – including the Filipino-Malaysian Clutch Gamers.

Taking place at the SM Mall of Asia Arena from May 26 to 28, 2017, the Manila Masters was a Philippine international Dota (Defense of the Ancients) 2 tournament. It gathered eight professional eSports teams from around the world, namely:

Evil Geniuses (USA)
Invictus Gaming (China)
Newbee (China)
Team Faceless (Singapore)
Team NP (Canada)
OG (Europe)
Team Secret (Europe)
Clutch Gamers (Malaysia/Philippines)

Clutch Gamers consists of Filipino players Khim “Gabbi” Villafuerte, Armel Paul Tabios, Rafael Sicat “Rappy” Palo, Marvin “Boombacs” Rushton, and Kenneth “flysolo” Coloma. After besting hundreds of other Filipino teams in the Nationwide Qualifiers, Clutch Gamers secured the top spot and the opportunity to challenge some of the best international teams at Manila Masters.

These eight teams fought for a prize pool of PHP 12,000,000 ($250,000).

 

May 25 – Upper Bracket Round 1

Before Manila Masters opened to the public on May 26, the teams already went head-to-head on May 25 to determine the following day’s matchups.

The Best of 3 format was chosen for all the pre-Finals matches.

The results of the Upper Bracket Round 1 matches are as follows:

OG (2) vs. Team NP (1)
Winner: OG

Newbee (2) vs. Team Secret (1)
Winner: Newbee

Invictus Gaming (2) vs. Clutch Gamers (1)
Winner: Invictus Gaming

Evil Geniuses (2) vs. Team Faceless (0)
Winner: Evil Geniuses

Losers Team NP, Team Secret, Clutch Gamers, and Team Faceless qualified for the May 26 Losers Bracket Round 1.

Winners OG, Newbee, Evil Geniuses, and Invictus Gaming went forward to Upper Bracket Round 2.

May 25 – Upper Bracket Round 2

The results of the Upper Bracket Round 2 matches are as follows:

OG (0) vs. Newbee (2)
Winner: Newbee

Evil Geniuses (2) vs. Invictus Gaming (1)
Winner: Evil Geniuses

Losers OG and Invictus Gaming qualified for the May 27 Losers Bracket Round 2.

Winners Newbee and Evil Geniuses earned the right to face each other in the May 26 Semifinals/Upper Bracket Round 3 battle.


May 26 (Day 1) – Losers Bracket Round 1

Day 1 of the Manila Masters commenced with the Losers Bracket Round 1 matches.

The results of these matches are as follows:

Team NP (2) vs. Team Secret (1)
Winner: Team NP

Clutch Gamers (0) vs. Team Faceless (2)
Winner: Team Faceless

Winners Team NP and Team Faceless moved forward to the May 27 Losers Bracket Round 2, where Team NP would face Invictus Gaming, and Team Faceless would face OG.

Sadly, losers Team Secret and Clutch Gamers were eliminated from the Manila Masters.




May 26 (Day 1) – Upper Bracket Round 3 / Semifinals

In Upper Bracket Round 3, Newbee and Evil Geniuses faced each other in combat. The results of their matches are as follows:

Newbee (2) vs. Evil Geniuses (0)
Winner: Newbee

With their victory, Newbee qualified for a spot in the Finals on May 28.

Evil Geniuses moved to Losers Bracket Round 4, also to be held on May 28.

 

Representing the Philippines

In the world of eSports, Clutch Gamers is a relatively new team. Formed by Power Gaming owner Jaseem Khan in December 2015, the team rose to prominence after besting fellow Filipino group TNC Pro Team

Clutch Gamers’ notable achievements include winning two of this year’s Prodota Cup Southeast Asia tournaments, The Summit 7’s Southeast Asia Qualifier, and of course the aforementioned Manila Masters Philippine Nationwide Qualifier. The Southeast Asian teams they’ve fought against include Fnatic, HappyFeet, Team Faceless, TNC Pro Team, Mineski, Geek Fam, and WG.Unity.

While based in Malaysia, Clutch Gamers consists entirely of Filipino players who’ve had loads of experience in the Dota 2 eSports scene. Rappy and Gabbi were previously part of Execration. Boombacs was with Cebu’s Arcanys. Flysolo has made a name for himself as proficient captain; he and Armel were once Acion Arena teammates.

Clutch Gamers’ victory over TNC Pro Team was a cause for celebration for more than one reason. In addition to helping them land a spot at the Manila Masters, their win also meant the OFWs were heading back to the Philippines. As the team trained in Malaysia, all five members had been away from their homes and families for a long while.

“I was a little bit nervous at first about bootcamping (in Malaysia) because living far away from my family (is) so hard for me,” Armel told Masters Manila in an interview. “It’s also my first time to go outside the country. But then when I got here, the nervousness went away and was replaced with excitement. When I miss my family I always think that I will instead make them my inspiration to succeed in Dota.”

Armel spoke of Clutch Gamers’ rise to fame.

“I’m happy because we have a lot of supportive fans and friends right now and I hope they keep on supporting us even if we lose, because we will always be trying our best.”

He admitted feeling excited about his team’s accomplishments and potential to go far in eSports.

“This is my dream and I guess step by step we are already achieving what we want in our lives. But this is not yet the finish line; this is just the start and I hope more good things will happen in our team.”

Armel told Masters Manila that he is happy with Clutch Gamers:

“When we started to play I’m really glad that I saw my team united and determined in achieving what we want. I’m so comfortable in my team because from the start we all became fast friends and we’ve become really close as teammates.”

 

 

 

Cultivating the Southeast Asian eSports scene

Presented by PLDT and Smart, Manila Masters is the product of a collaboration between Southeast Asian eSports tournaments organizer Mineski-Events Team (MET), and global eSports tournaments organizer Electronic Sports League (ESL).

Manila Masters comes after the success of 2016’s ESL One Manila and ESL One Genting in Malaysia.

“We’ve had a great experience working with Mineski on the region’s largest eSports event in 2016, when we hosted the first Dota 2 competition at ESL One Manila,” said Ulrich Schulze, ESL Vice President Pro Gaming – Business and Strategy.

This year, MET hopes to once again help develop the Southeast Asian eSports scene with Manila Masters.

“We’re excited to put into action everything we’ve learned in order to put the Philippines on the map,” said Marlon Marcelo, Mineski Franchise Corporation VP for Marketing, and MET Department Head. “We are very thankful for the Filipino fans – this could never have happened without their passion and energy for eSports."

MET is confident the Philippine eSports scene has nowhere to go but up.

“The Philippine scene already has a strong backbone, and Philippine teams and organizations are getting stronger by the day,” said Mineski Franchise Corporation CEO Ronald Robins. “This time we want to strengthen Southeast Asia as a whole, despite the inevitable challenges ahead. Now, with the Masters, we are going to move forward again.”

For more information about Manila Masters, visit its official website. For more videos of the matches, visit its YouTube channel. — TJD, GMA News