Dota 2 action intensified at Manila Masters over the weekend

Manila Masters Day 2 brought more drama and adrenaline-pumping Dota 2 action to the SM Mall of Asia Arena. When the smoke cleared, only one team remained to move onward in the competition: Team NP of Canada.

Manila Masters Day 1 ended with the elimination of Europe’s Team Secret and the all-Filipino Clutch Gamers, leaving just the following groups eligible to fight for the championship:

Evil Geniuses (USA)
Invictus Gaming (China)
Newbee (China)
Team Faceless (Singapore)
Team NP (Canada)
OG (Europe)

Day 2 focused on Losers Brackets Rounds 2 and 3, which involved Invictus Gaming, Team NP, OG, and Team Faceless.

With a prize pool of PHP 12,000,000 ($250,000) up for grabs, Day 2's four teams had a long, hard day of combat ahead of them.

The Best of 3 format was chosen for all Day 2 matches.

 

May 27 (Day 2) – Losers Bracket Round 2

The Losers Brackets gave the losing teams of Upper Brackets Rounds 1 and 2 the opportunity to fight their way back to the top, and another shot at first place.

Losers Bracket Round 2 involved the survivors of Losers Bracket Round 1. The results of said matches are as follows:

Invictus Gaming (0) vs. Team NP (2)
Winner: Team NP

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

Unfortunately for Invictus Gaming and OG, their Manila Masters journey was over.

Team NP and Team Faceless moved forward to face each other in Losers Bracket Round 3.



May 27 (Day 2) – Losers Bracket Round 3

The results of the Losers Bracket Round 3 matches are as follows:

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



Sadly, their failure to claim victory over Team NP meant the end of the road for Team Faceless.

Team NP, on the other hand, earned the right to face Upper Bracket Round 3 / Semifinals loser Evil Geniuses on May 28.

 

The eSports dream

The life of an eSports athlete isn’t all fun and games. It takes hard work, dedication, the willingness to be part of a team, adept strategizing, and more to become worthy of the title “professional Dota 2 player.” Add to that the constant pressure of doing your country proud, and you’ve got one of the most challenging careers anyone can have.

Several of the teams that participated at the Manila Masters were able to share some of their thoughts and feelings about the tournament, as well as what it means to be eSports giants.

All-Filipino Malaysian team Clutch Gamers admitted they were proud to represent the Philippines at the Manila Masters. However, their elimination on Day 1 weighed heavily on them.

“When we lost, we felt ashamed that we couldn’t win even one game,” they admitted. “It’s like there was more we could have done. It’s like we weren’t able to do what we wanted to do.”

The team expressed their need to get familiar with the new Dota 2 updates: “Right now, we’re really still adjusting to the new update.”

They acknowledged the important role their manager, Jaseem Khan, played.

“He’s our moral support, he really gives us a boost,” they stated.

According to Clutch Gamers, their training regimen in Malaysia is extremely strict. They believe the discipline instilled in them by their management has helped them improve. They therefore advise anyone aspiring to become a professional gamer to go to another country for training.

“They can have better careers, or they could have better success if they went to those other countries,” expressed a team member. “I don’t know if they can perform better here, because there’s so many distractions.”

Clutch Gamers added: “Always keep discipline in mind… And keep playing Dota. Don’t drink too much. Because here in the Philippines, after playing, it’s common to drink at night. There in Malaysia, we rarely do that. Around once month maybe, sometimes not even.”

Team member Kenneth “flysolo” Coloma did suggest it’s possible to train locally – as long as the management is strict.

While considered one of the best Filipino Dota 2 team captains, flysolo remains humble.

“I just do my best,” he said. “I had no idea I’m considered that good.”

flysolo hasn’t been a professional gamer long; just last year, he was like any other fan, simply watching eSports stars from afar. He admitted feeling initially nervous at becoming part of Clutch Gamers, but also happy at the opportunity to represent the Philippines.

“I’m happy I finally realized my dreams,” he said.

Regardless of Clutch Gamers’ defeat, China’s Invictus Gaming described the team as “really strong.”

 

Despite being knocked out of the Manila Masters, Europe’s OG exuded a positivity that was hard to ignore.

The team explained the influence of emotions on performance:

“I think that’s one of the biggest things. It’s a mental game. There’s a lot of money on the line. Some matches you play worse because you’re thinking about, ‘Oh this is such a big tournament, we have to win.’ Other teams do well because they are able to work around it.”

While the phenomenon of “tilting” – when a player becomes so frustrated during a game that it negatively impacts their performance – is a reality many gamers have experienced, it’s a rarity among professional eSports athletes.

“Yeah, it can happen,” shared the team’s Gustav “s4” Magnusson. “But it’s quite rare. Usually it’s easy to blame that someone is tilting but it’s actually the other team playing really well.”

s4 expressed the team’s opinion of the Southeast Asian server.

“There’s a lot of fun people,” he remarked. “They laugh a lot. They type, ‘Hahaha.’ They scream in their mikes. So it’s a bit different. It can be fun, but sometimes it can be quite annoying.”

The team jokingly claimed “OG” stands for “Original Gangsters.”

Another team that was in an excellent mood despite their elimination was Team Faceless.

Team Faceless' Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier had interesting comments about the crowd at the SM Mall of Asia.

“They are crazy,” he said good-naturedly. “They’re not bad to us. They’re very supportive. On the first day, maybe they were a bit grumpy. But after that everyone was very nice.”

Black^ echoed Clutch Gamers’ sentiments about the benefits of moving out of your home region to train somewhere else. His reasons are somewhat different, though.

“If you go through all the (player) combinations in your home country and nothing works out for you, maybe it’s time for a change. That’s usually when people (move out of their country), I think.”

He added: “I predicted three years ago that people would outsource more to other regions because there have been a lot of successful movements in the world. I think it’s only natural that it would happen. It happens in other eSports. So it’s just part of how eSports develops, the outsourcing of other players.”

Team captain Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang explained how playing against teams from different regions pave the way for diverse experiences – a factor that could play a role in why a team like Team Faceless, OG, or Clutch Gamers wins or loses.

“The fact is when you’re playing an online tournament, it’s normally games between SEA teams,” he said. “And I guess we already know how each other plays. So maybe that’s why we do better games against SEA teams. But when we play against foreign teams, they are actually the best in their own respective region... In SEA you can make some mistakes here and there and opponents are more forgiving towards it. But teams like OG and EG, they are less forgiving towards us for mistakes. That’s why it’s easy to lose against a foreign team… I wouldn’t say they’re harder to play against. It’s more like they’re different.”

iceiceice had the following advice for those who want to get better at Dota 2:

“Play more Dota. And try not to die.”

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