Xctn, coL fall short of qualifying to TI6 as EHOME, ESC move on to Group Stages
The International 2016 (TI6) has its sixteen teams. After a grueling day of competition, EHOME and Escape Gaming (ESC) are the top two Wildcard teams and will move on to the Group Stages. Meanwhile, Pinoy team Execration (Xctn), despite a valiant effort, are knocked out of the competition alongside CompLexity Gaming (coL).
Despite being the clear underdogs of the Wildcards, Xctn showed they were not to be taken lightly after they won their opening game against EHOME. As the clear favorites to breeze through the Wildcard stage, EHOME decided to draft a rather questionable mid Warlock pick against Xctn. While EHOME was able to accrue an early lead, Xctn was able to take a few key teamfights to secure a comeback win.
Even though Xctn proved they weren’t an easy sweep for EHOME after their game 1 victory, they nonetheless lost the next two games and were sent to the lower bracket.
Meanwhile, the other Wildcard semifinal saw coL also knocked down to the lower bracket by ESC. In Game 1, ESC ran a heavy burst-damage lineup with Morphling, Queen of Pain, and Ancient Apparition, but was countered by some solid play by Simon “Handsken” Haag on Oracle, enabling the rest of coL to take over. ESC however hit back hard as they took the next two games decisively to move on to the upper bracket to face EHOME.
The Upper Bracket final saw EHOME flex its muscles as they routed ESC 2-0. In Game 1, EHOME’s Ren “ELeVeN” Yangwei on Axe and Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang on Naga Siren absolutely dismantled ESC’s Drow Ranger strat. In Game 2, EHOME countered ESC’s Storm Spirit pick for Max “qojqva” Bröcker with an Anti-Mage for iceiceice. Despite fantastic Chronospheres by Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann on Faceless Void, ESC was unable to stop EHOME’s push as they became the 15th team to qualify for TI6.
EHOME’s iceiceice expresses his joy after qualifying for TI6. Pic courtesy of @DOTA2
The first round of the Wildcard Lower Bracket saw Xctn prove that they were indeed a team to watch out for as they destroyed coL 2-0, despite being considered the weaker team in the matchup. Game 1 saw Timothy “Tims” Randrup on Earth Spirit put on a clinic as he dictated every fight in Xctn’s favor, allowing his cores, Fernando “Nando” Mendoza on Juggernaut and Abed “Abed” Yusop on Mirana, to close out the game.
In Game 2, Xctn pulled out their signature Meepo pick for Abed despite coL responding with Sand King and Ember Spirit counterpicks. Abed, despite being the youngest player of the tournament at a mere 15 years old, proved that he’s among the world’s most skilled players as he absolutely obliterated coL with his Meepo.
Abed playing a godlike Meepo vs coL, note that he’s playing on Windowed mode. Pic courtesy of Wykhrm Reddy.
The Pinoy prodigy, renowned for also being the first player to stack Dragon Lances on Meepo, exhibited insane micro skills to end the game with an unbelievable 18 kills, 9 assists, and no deaths. Words may not be enough to describe Abed’s phenomenal performance, you just had to see it to believe it.
After sweeping coL aside, Xctn moved on to face ESC in the last series of the day to determine the last team to qualify for TI6.
Despite Xctn’s stellar performance earlier against coL, ESC was able to take the fight to the plucky Pinoy squad. In Game 1 ESC was able to get the better draft as their Riki pick for Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat gave his team the advantage in the early game, making space for qojqva on Juggernaut and on Tiny to eventually take over the game. Xctn was blindsided by a surprise Huskar pick by ESC in Game 2, as the European squad edged the Pinoys out of a spot in TI6 with a perfect 11-0 kill score after 18 minutes.
The Synderella Magic is real. With ESC qualified for TI6, their captain Synderen keeps his 100% winrate in all The International qualifier matches he has been in.
The face of defeat. After a stellar performance against CompLexity, Execration fall to ESC and lose their chance to qualify for TI6.
Despite losing their chance to compete in TI6, Xctn has proved that Pinoy teams can compete at an international level. Abed’s legendary Meepo against coL also exemplified the immense, yet mostly untapped, pool of talented players in the country just waiting for a chance to prove themselves.
While Xctn may be out of the tournament, the Philippine banner will now be carried by TnC as they make their debut in Seattle at the Group Stages, which start at Wednesday, 9AM PDT (Thursday midnight here in the PH).
You can check out the schedule for the Group Stages here. Stay tuned to eSports by Inquirer.net’s coverage of The International 2016 for more!
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