Mineski Books Tickets To The Frankfurt Major
The clash between two of the best performing teams in the SEA region today at the Frankfurt SEA Qualifiers Winners’ Final did not disappoint. Both Mineski and Fnatic had their eyes on the prize as the first slot for the inaugural Frankfurt Major was at stake. But it was Mineski who came out on top after the series that went the distance. All is not lost for the losing side still has a chance to book their ticket to Germany against Malaysian side Team 123 in the Losers’ Bracket Final.
Mineski started the series strong with a dominating opening match against Fnatic. Ryan “raging potato” Jay Qui and Carlo “Kuku” Palad led the way for Mineski with excellent showings on Spectre and Windranger respectively. An interesting food for thought from the first game would be Mineski’s Spectre pick to mess up fellow Filipino Djardel “DJ” Mampusti’s Earthshaker on the Fnatic side. DJ has been in stellar form for Fnatic as of late and Mineski wasn’t about to give him free reign in the crucial opening salvo.
Spectre..as always.
Fnatic’s Game 2 draft was all business going for the tried and tested Tiny-Io combination from the get-go while Mineski went for the triple bruiser combination of Bristleback-Spiritbreaker-Undying. Both teams showed that they can change strategies on the go as Kuku and raging potato switched between their Mid and Carry roles while DJ moved over to Support while Chong “Ohaiyo” Khoo took over the Offlane position. Timely rotations from Fnatic won them the early game. Mineski tried their best to chip away at the lead but it proved to be too insurmountable and they were forced to call the ‘GG’ sooner than they would have liked.
Fnatic bounces back in Game 2 on the back of their infamous Tiny+Wisp combo.
In the deciding Game 3, Fnatic surprised the world once more when it picked up Nature’s Prophet early on (in a Support role!?) in a supposedly push oriented line up while Mineski picks up glass cannons Shadow Fiend and Drow Ranger. The gamble on Fnatic did not pay off as Mineski narrowly took the early game after some awkward engagements. It was an uphill battle for Fnatic most of the way after taking Game 2 as they ran out of ideas on how to beat Mineski. Mineski takes Game 3 in emphatic fashion and they are going to Germany!
Good game, well played!
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