Mineski-Dota makes history at DAC 2018
Image Banner and Thumbnail © PGL
Southeast Asia’s brand of Dota no longer has to settle for the underdog monicker.
For the first time in the history of competitive Dota 2, a SEA-based team was finally able to hoist a Major championship trophy after Mineski-Dota outlasted LGD Gaming in a full five-game grand final at the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018.
Congratulations to @MineskiProTeam GG @LGDgaming Thank you #DAC2018 for having us. What a wonderful note to end on. FINAL REACTIONS FOR MINESKI VICTORY! @iceiceicedota needed that hidration… pic.twitter.com/88a57Q9hs1
— PGL (@pglesports) April 7, 2018
It was a long time coming for the region deemed as most competitive. Prior to the effective amalgamation of Mushi, Moon, iceiceice, Jabz, and ninjaboogie under one banner for the Dota Pro Circuit, the most historic feat a SEA team has ever accomplished was to upset a two-time Valve Major tournament champions in the grandest Dota 2 tournament.
Mineski-Dota’s achievement at the stages of Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China marked a new milestone in competitive Dota.
Although this was the second time Mineski-Dota was crowned as the rightful champion over LGD Gaming in a Dota Pro Circuit tournament, the Chinese hotshot made a legitimate effort to retain the Dota 2 Asia Championships title within China’s territory, despite their abysmal performance against Mineski-Dota in the upper bracket finals.
Backed by a massive amount of momentum from their clutch series against Dota Pro Circuit leaders, Virtus.pro, the Chinese crowd’s last hope wrecked the first grand finalist’s Pangolier and Dark Willow combo in just 27 minutes with a dominating performance from Ame’s Phantom Assassin.
Mineski-Dota was soon able to pick up LGD Gaming’s pace as they proceeded to even out the series with the help of Moon’s mastery on Tiny. Although they were successful in resetting the momentum, it wasn’t enough to stop LGD Gaming right on their tracks after Maybe’s Kunkka pick against iceiceice’s Broodmother pushed Mineski-Dota to a tournament point.
The fourth game told a different story for Mineski-Dota’s Pangolier and LGD Gaming’s Phantom Assassin. With Moon’s Silver Edge-wielding Dragon Knight leading the charge on Mineski-Dota’s side, Ame’s pesky RNG-based hero failed to contribute anything significant despite being the second richest hero in the game.
After four back-and-forth games, Mineski-Dota and LGD Gaming entered the fifth and final game with their eyes set on nothing but the Radiance memento. Both teams refused to give each other a much-needed momentum after the gold lead got sustained at 1K until the 28th-minute mark of the game when Mineski-Dota picked up three heroes from LGD Gaming.
The surprise Anti-Mage pick for Ame posed a huge threat to Mineski-Dota’s claim the to crown until they pulled off a successful wrap-around smoke gank. With the richest hero in the game killed together with Maybe’s Leshrac, LGD Gaming was forced to play under the SEA powerhouse’s pace of the game.
About 10 minutes after the clutch play, Jabz, once again, was forced to eat his ‘China Number One’ statement as Mineski-Dota closed the first East versus East Major tournament grand final since The International 2014’s grand final bout between Vici Gaming and Newbee with the Chinese contenders settling for top two.
Aside from proving the effectiveness of 71’s pre-game ritual in a grand final series, legendary SEA player Mushi was also crowned as the first player to win the Dota 2 Asia Championships, the Solo Tournament, and the All-Star match.
Mineski-Dota’s bagging of the 750 Dota 2 Pro Circuit points at The International of the East catapulted them to the fourth spot of the Dota Pro Circuit leaderboards with 3150 points. Meanwhile, LGD Gaming joins its three Chinese comrades in the bottom four of the magic eight with 1,821 Dota Pro Circuit points.
