GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
UST reigns supreme against UAAP schools in Dota 2 tourney
Months of training and preparation paid off for the University of Santo Tomas' (UST's) Team Kangkong, champions in the recent Impetus 2017, the first ever intercollegiate Dota 2 competition in the Philippines run by a student organization.
Organized by the University of the Philippines Gaming Guild (UPGG), the main event for Impetus 2017 was held at the TNC High Grounds Café in Tomas Morato on June 24-25, 2017.
Qualifying tournaments were conducted in all eight UAAP schools to determine each university’s representatives during the finals. Student esports athletes representing their respective universities battled it out in the two-day main event, with the team from UST emerging victorious at the end.
Nailbiting matches
UP Diliman Impetoinks’ early game lineup was tested in a match against De La Salle University The Fellowship in the lower bracket. UPD held the advantage over DLSU during the early and midgame, but the Medusa hero of DLSU managed to prolong the game and extend it to more than the typical 40-minute matches. UPD defeated DLSU after a long 104 minutes, with their favorable performance climbing up the lower bracket seemed poised to be a rising underdog story.
The lower bracket finals saw fierce competition between an evenly matched UP Diliman Impetoinks and Ateneo de Manila University Saltstack for a spot in the finals. But an unprecedented emergency substitution midgame for UPD proved to be costly. The loss of momentum shifted the balance for an ADMU domination, leaving the underdogs from the other side of Katipunan in third place.
ADMU then faced UST in the finals in a Best-of-5 series. UST dominated ADMU in Game 1, stomping their opponents in a swift 13-minute match. Game 2 saw more of a struggle for dominance, with UST controlling the early game and ADMU pushing back midway, only to be overwhelmed during the last part of the match.
ADMU entered Game 3 with a solid lineup consisting of Rubick, Razor, Tusk, Lone Druid, and Ember Spirit, facing off against the equally strong lineup of Clockwerk, Batrider, Jakiro, Invoker, and Weaver of the opposing team. UST relied on the Jakiro-Weaver team-up against the Invoker-Razor damage dealers of the opponent. UST’s consistent push led their team to victory, sweeping ADMU and claiming the 25,000 PhP prize money landing in first place.
eSports and the collegiate scene
The burgeoning esports industry in the Philippines has seen the meteoric rise of esports companies and professional teams. However, according to incumbent UPGG President Franz Irorita, there is no systemic collegiate esports league that is both sustainable and recurring. For UPGG, Impetus 2017 is laying the foundation of an intercollegiate esports league in the Philippines, with the goal of bringing together the best Dota 2 teams from the most prestigious schools in the country. Impetus 2017 is not affiliated with the UAAP, but UPGG hopes that “its success and the community’s response will pave the way for official esports tournaments in national collegiate sports leagues”. Prior to Impetus 2017, no other Dota 2 tournament in the country focused on the UAAP community.
Dota is one of the most popular online games in the Philippines carried by all, if not most, internet gaming cafés. A large number of gamers, especially in the professional scene, are college-aged. The balance between academics and esports has always been difficult to maintain, more so to understand. The amount of time invested in training is comparable to that of other professional athletes. For UPD’s Faneallric “Yvanova” Yao, who has been playing since childhood, parental resistance was inevitable. “At least I get my grades up,” the computer science student proudly states, who plans on going pro again after graduation.
To watch the Impetus 2017 streaming videos, visit the official Facebook page and the UPGG Twitch channel. — Photos and text by Jo Brianne Briones/TJD/KVD, GMA News
