Team Empire, OG Celebrate Big Wins In East Asia Over The Weekend
Published: Dec 12, 2017 - Last Updated: May 30, 2024
This past weekend saw two big Dota 2 events taking place in East Asia. MDL Macau took over the Macau University Music Hall, while the ROG Masters 2017 made headlines out of Kuala Lumpur.
Let’s take a look at how both panned out.
MDL Macau
Mars Media sponsored this year’s Mars Dota 2 League Macau (MDL Macau), and the event was held in Macau for the very first time. With 300 qualifying points in the Dota Pro Circuit league — the official qualifier for The International 2018 — plus a prize pool of $300,000, there was certainly plenty on the line for the nine teams.
Group stage
The opening round saw all nine teams competing in a best-of-one group stage. It proved hugely exciting. All the teams registered at least two wins, and the difference between the top and bottom teams was just four wins.
There were clear winners, however. OG took the top spot in the group with a fine 6-2 record. They were followed by 5-3 three: Virtus.pro, Natis Vincere, and TNC Pro Team. They just edged out EHOME and LGD Forever Young for playoff spots.
Playoffs
The first of best-of-three semifinal pitted OG against Natus Vincere. After an opening game that lasted an hour, OG completed a comprehensive 2-0 win by finishing the second match in just 37 minutes. That put the No. 1 seed in the tourney’s final.
The second semi saw something of a shock. The fourth-seeded TNC Pro Team upset No. 2 Virtus.pro to claim the win.
While OG’s place in the final was expected by the bookies, TNC Pro Team was a dark horse. They entered the final as the big underdogs against a team that had only lost to Infamous and Virtus.pro in the tournament to that point.
The bookmakers, as it turned out, had it right. OG won both the opening maps in little over half an hour to claim a 2-0 victory, $130,000, and 150 DPC points.
TNC Pro Team earned 90 points and $65,000 for their second-place finish. Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro each took home $30,000 and 30 points for reaching the playoffs.
Updated DPC rankings
| Pos | Team Name | Points |
| 1 | Team Secret | 3690 |
| 2 | Team Liquid | 2700 |
| 3 | Virtus.pro | 2362.5 |
| 4 | Newbee | 1035 |
| 5 | Evil Geniuses | 765 |
| 6 | Mineski | 720 |
| 7 | Vici Gaming | 540 |
| 8 | OG | 450 |
| 9 | Natus Vincere | 315 |
| 10 | TNC Pro Team | 270 |
| 11 | LGD Gaming | 202.5 |
| 12= | compLexity Gaming | 135 |
| 12= | LGD Forever Young | 135 |
| 13 | Immortals | 90 |
The next big Dota Pro Circuit event, Dota Summit 8, begins Wednesday. Three hundred points are on the line.
ROG Masters 2017
Sponsored by the Republic of Gamers and Intel, the ROG Masters 2017 in Kuala Lumpur saw six teams fight for $235,000. In the end, two household names grabbed most of the money.
The six teams competing included OpTic Gaming, WarriorsGaming.Unity, Execration, Team Empire, PENTA Sports, and Team Max. (Max replaced CDEC Gaming in the finals.)
Group stage
In Group A, PENTA Sports were downed 2-0 by WarriorsGaming.Unity in something of a surprise. In the next game though, WGU fumbled the game right back. That left OpTic as the clear favourites to win the group. They did precisely that, with a solid 2-0 win over PENTA, which confirmed their place in the semis.
In Group B, with Team Max and Execration split their two games to start. Team Empire took full advantage of that and defeated both 2-0.
Playoffs
In the quarterfinals, PENTA registered their first win over Execration to knock them out of the competition by a 2-1 scoreline. In the second quarter, WGU earned a semis spot with a 2-1 win over Team Max.
However, both these qualifiers from the quarters came unstuck in the semifinals. OpTic Gaming and Team Empire registered 2-0 wins over PENTA and WGU and headed into the best-of-five final.
The final was one of the most exciting and keenly contested in any Dota 2 event this year. OpTic Gaming and Team Empire fought out a classic matchup. Empire won the first map in a 65-minute battle. Then, OpTic bounced back quickly to take the next two maps in just over 35 minutes.
Team Empire responded superbly to win the final two maps, the first in 48 minutes, the second in another epic 64-minute encounter to claim the top prize and a 3-2 victory.
Empire took home $117,500 for their efforts, while OpTic Gaming had to be content with a $58,800 prize. PENTA and WGU both earned $21,350.
Editorial credit: haveseen / Shutterstock.com
Since: August 10, 2015
