The Filipino Zerg player ends day one of the momentous event with 5-0 record
EnDerr Image via Liyab
The historic debut of esports in the 30th Southeast Asian Games was paired with a good start from the host country’s esteemed StarCraft II delegate, Caviar “EnDerr” Acampado, after ending his group stage run with a flawless 5-0 win-loss series record, ultimately securing a spot at the winner’s finals of the playoffs.
Seeded in Group B alongside Indonesia’s Emmanuel ”QuanTel” Enrique, Singapore’s Thomas ”Blysk” Kopankiewicz, Thailand’s Pichayut ”StriKE” Prasertwit, Malaysia’s Jonathan ”Nefarious” Wong, and Vietnam’s Le ”Asura” Minh Hai, the Filipino Zerg main breezed through the series of best-of-three bouts. The only matchup he failed to sweep was against the Singaporean Protoss main, who managed to snatch one game that left EnDerr with a 10-1 game record.
Despite the incredible start and being two wins away from the gold medal for the StarCraft II discipline, EnDerr has yet to face his biggest opponent—Vietnam’s Tran ”MeomaikA” Hong Phuc. A Zerg player like EnDerr, MeomaikA was the top seed of the Group A. He also finished the initial tournament phase with the same 5-0 win-loss record, and is up to face the Filipino delegate in the playoffs.
According to Dexter ”Zendex” Ancheta, a recognized Filipino StarCraft II figure and EnDerr’s former manager, the matchup between the two 2019 SEA Games’ group stage top seeds is pretty even. However, MeomaikA may have a slight advantage in terms of results, as he recently trounced EnDerr in a best-of-five grand final in the Southeast Asia qualifier for the World Electronic Sports Games 2019, an Olympic-style multi-title esports event held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month.
READ: Philippines Claim Back-to-Back WESG S.E.A. Championship Title
While EnDerr basks on the comfort of a secured podium finish, however, Derick Justin ”Nuks” Santos, have to crawl his way down the lower bracket for the possibility of having two Filipino players winning two medals under the StarCraft II discipline. Nuks, also a Zerg player, barely managed to survive the group stage, with a 2-3 win-loss record.
The StarCraft II discipline for the 30th Southeast Asian Games will continue with its best-of-five upper bracket finals match tomorrow, December 6, 2019, live at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City, Philippines.