ADMU Student Jeff Dizon on Facing OG Member: “I would choose Topson”

Esports Inquirer spoke to newly-crowned Red Bull R1v1r Runes National Champion Zedrik “jeff” Dizon of LG Esports about his road to glory and how initiatives like R1v1r Runes impact the local Dota 2 scene.

The event was held in partnership with Gariath Concepts and was streamed live by Lupon WomboXCombo last Saturday. As a reward for being the tournament’s grand champion, he will have the honor of playing against a member of back-to-back The International winners OG in a 1-versus-1 midlane matchup.

Esports Inquirer: You went through a lot to get where you are right now, making your way up from the qualifiers all the way to winning that nailbiting Phantom Assassin mirror matchup in the Grand Finals. Could you give us some insight on your journey?

My initial strategy for the tournament was to comply with the intense battle of mechanics that would be entertaining to watch. However, I realized when I was sent to the lower bracket in the qualifiers (because of the first tower) that my competitors will do whatever it takes to win. I then decided to come up with an alternative strategy using Meteor Hammer that ensured I would be able to push better than my opponents.

Going into the top 8, I learned a lot of my competitors were using the push strategy but also selling their items at 5 and 10 minutes. From here I decided to start drafting comfortable but unorthodox heroes to ensure that I still had a higher chance of winning. I enjoyed my grand finals matches against DLSU.Quanon because most of the heroes we used were heroes I barely play at all.

Zedrik "jeff" Dizon is our Red Bull R1v1R National Champion!In a pool of 128 players, he managed to get on top by…

Posted by LG Esports on Sunday, May 31, 2020

This is the second edition of Red Bull R1V1R Runes Philippines, and without a doubt, it gives aspiring pros some much-needed time in the spotlight. What kind of impact do projects like these have on the country’s competitive Dota 2 scene?

I think it is a good start to give aspiring pros a spotlight, but at the same time, it isn’t enough. Dota 2 will always be a team-based game and competing in Red Bull R1v1r Runes requires a completely different play style. I believe there’s a lot of untapped potential in our country but the lack of consistent and well-known amateur tournaments affects the possibility of these players getting discovered.

You’ll be going up against one of the members of OG. Has that sunk into you yet? If you could choose which player to play against, who would it be and why?

It has sunk in already because this was my goal going into the tournament. I would choose Topson because I think we have similar playstyles and he’s my favorite player. It’ll be interesting as well to be able to see what crazy builds he would come up with in Red Bull R1v1r Runes.

This article will be updated when information on the match schedule and its streaming platform become available.

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