SEA’s representatives are owning the grand stage
Mushi Image © PGLesports Raven Image © STARLADDER
Over the Holy Week break, the rest of the world became witness to the greatness of Southeast Asian Dota after TNC Predator and Mineski-Dota topped their respective groups in the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018. The SEA powerhouses even left Dota 2 Pro Circuit leaders like Team Secret, Newbee, and Team Liquid in a do-or-die breakout match as they secured the playoff spots for their own.
TNC Predator was able to salvage their rather slow tournament start with an impressive 4-0 run in the five-way tiebreaker in Group A. Their competence as an internationally-acclaimed Dota 2 team was made evident during this meteoric run as they proceeded to get back their loses against Team Liquid, Newbee, and OpTic Gaming in the group stage round-robin.
The all-Filipino Dota 2 team’s flexibility in drafting complemented well with the group stages’ best-of-one format. In 11 games, TNC Predators’ midlaner, Armel “Armel” Tabios, picked eight unique heroes, with his Timbersaw posing a 100% win rate in three games. Timothy “Tims” Randrup also found success in his Dark Willow, exhibiting the same win rate as Armel’s Timbersaw.
Mineski-Dota, on the other hand, maintained a powerful presence from the start of the group stages until its end. Judging by the current Dota Pro Circuit rankings, Mineski-Dota entered Group B as the fifth strongest team. Only the first The International 2018 direct invitee, Virtus.pro, acted they way they are ranked after successfully stopping the SEA powerhouse from achieving a perfect group stage run.
Like their SEA rival, Mineski-Dota was also able to flex their versatility in drafting. Team Secret unintentionally ended up as a guinea pig for the viability of Pangolier in the professional Dota 2 scene as iceiceice put up a clinic with the newly-added hero.
Mineski-Dota and TNC Predator will be entering the playoffs with a chance to face each other in the second round of the upper bracket. Looking at the bracket seeding, Mineski-Dota’s path seems to be clearer compared to TNC Predator’s solely because of the potential best-of-three match-up against Team Secret. Although Carlo “Kuku” Palad and his teammates were able to tie a two-game series against the Puppey-led squad during the group stages of The International 2017, Team Secret is still a great threat against the the breweing el clasico match-up at the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018 main event.
However, TNC Predator falling into the lower bracket still won’t be as unfortunate as it seems given the do-or-die format of its first two rounds. The group stages of the Dota 2 Asia Championships was more than enough to establish the all-Filipino team’s prowess in best-of-ones. Barring, of course, the added pressure of sudden death, TNC Predator can easily secure Dota Pro Circuit points by sweeping the two best-of-one rounds.
Thank you for joining us for the #DAC2018 group stage! It's been QUITE a ride. We will be back on April 3rd with the first day of the Main Event. Only on https://t.co/POOblpibRA @PWRD_DOTA2 pic.twitter.com/uM9xHrGiX2
— PGL (@pglesports) April 1, 2018
The fates of SEA’s representatives will be made clearer tomorrow as eight teams fight each other out in the breakout match. This will determine which team will face Mineski-Dota and TNC Predator in the first round of the upper bracket.
Of course, in a miraculous state wherein everything goes right for both SEA representatives, the possibility of a grand final match-up between Mineski-Dota and TNC Predator in the Dota 2 Asia Championships is also within reach.
