#MajorAllStarMY: #RAVEvolution and MAS Team Preview
by Jasper “Captain Art” Arcalas, Lex “Glyphs” Celera, Jules “swarley_” Tabios, Gabby Del Rosario
The Korea-based Filipino team, Rave Dota (Rave), left the 3-million-dollar Dota Asia Championship (DAC) tournament in January with a name in the global stage. They wowed Chinese fans and global spectators with their performances. They made an upset and put up a great show against top Chinese and European teams before they faltered at the fifth spot. They went home with at least P6.6 million.
And almost a couple of months after that wondrous stint in China , the Overseas Filipino Gamers (OFG) did it again. They managed to clear-cut their way through the The Summit 3 (TS) SEA Qualifiers. In the Grand Finals last Saturday, they defeated their Korean rivals MVP.Phoenix 3-2, securing their ticket in the local area network (LAN) finals in Los Angeles, California.
And just after almost a week, they managed to escape the tiebreaker match against the same team in the MLG Columbus Asia Qualifier. The Filipinos just booked two tickets to the U.S.A.
With all those victories at hand, the OFGs are going downtown Southeast Asia (SEA). Rave was invited in what would be the biggest eSports tournament in the SEA region: Major All Stars (MAS). This Malaysian tournament shows the unstoppable growth of competitive gaming in the SEA region with its $100,000 prize pot.
“We’re pretty confident going to this tournament. I hope we finish at least 3rd/4th,” Cast told eSports by INQUIRER.net.
MAS would be the sixth international competition for Rave Dota. They will join seven other international teams: Natus Vincere (Ukraine), Invasion eSports (Malaysia), Invictus Gaming (China), Team Redemption (Malaysia), Cant Say Wisps (Australia), Team Empire (Russia), in this double elimination tournament from March 20-22.
“I think iG and Empire would be our toughest opponents in this tournament,” Cast said.
“(But) I could say that we became competitive and more powerful because we grew and developed our skills together. We’ve been through ups-and-downs but still managed to stick together and improve,” the proud Filipino captain said. “Thanks for the non-stop [support for] our team. We promise that we will do our best [in] all [of] our incoming tournaments!”
As the #RAVEvolution continues, the Filipinos are in for another war. Let’s support these OFGs and be part of the Philippine #RAVEvolt in Malaysia!
Team Preview
Photo grabbed from Major All Stars (MAS) Facebook page.
Rave Dota (Philippines)
The #RAVEvolution is ready to compete in the MAS. The OFGs are one of the two teams invited from SEA region and are posting up to be formidable opponents amongst the teams. Coming from two tournament qualifier wins — MLG Columbus and The Summit 3 (TS) — against their South Korean rivals MVP. Phoenix, Rave is definitely ready for the MAS.
Expect flashy plays and great in-game coping mechanisms from this Filipino team. They have shown how versatile they are during the grueling best-of-five series for TS 3 SEA Qualifiers. They currently hold a six-game winning streak.
This Filipino Dota 2 team is led by Mark “Cast” Pilar and composed of Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa, Djardel “Chrissy” Mampusti, and veteran players Jio “Jeyo” Madayag and Michael “nb” Ross.
Photo grabbed from Major All Stars (MAS) Facebook page.
Invasion eSports (Malaysia)
Invasion is the second SEA team invited in MAS and also representing the host country. This homegrown team has been under performing as of late.
They came from a round one elimination in TS 3 SEA qualifiers and were slightly edged out by Filipino team Mineski in the StarLadder XII SEA qualifiers. Hopefully, Loh Jun “dabeliuteef” Liong, Joel “XtiNcT” Chan, Wong Chee “Ghost” Chong, NaNa, with the leadership of Ahmad “ADTR” Syazwan, can bring pride to their home crowd.
Photo grabbed from Major All Stars (MAS) Facebook page.
Natus Vincere (Ukraine)
The Ukrainian powerhouse is invited to MAS despite their rocky performances in previous tournaments. There is no reason to doubt that they are still a threat to the other teams.
With arguably one of the best support duos in the scene, Artur “Goblak” Kostenko and Ivan “Vanskor” Skorokhod, and the presence of highly-skilled veteran players, Alexander “Xboct” Dashkevich, Daniel “Dendi” Ishutin and Alexander “DKPhobos” Kucherya, Natus Vincere will definitely bring something big to the table — something they used to do. Let’s just hope that it’s big enough to make up for their subpar performances from past tournaments.
Photo grabbed from Major All Stars (MAS) Facebook page.
Can’t Say Wisps (Australia)
After following up their 1st place finish in the O.K. Dota 2 Cup in late December 2014 with a lackluster performance in the recent DAC, Can’t Say Wips emerges as one of the underdogs in this tournament.
Hailing from Australia, this team is out to prove its mettle with veteran Darcy “Godot” Jose as its captain, accompanied by fellow Aussie Justin “xMusiCa” Yuen, Singaporeans Wei Sheng “Chains” Tan and Yaowen “Tudi” Teo, and Malaysian Adam “343” Shah. Notably bogged down by high pings in online tournaments due to their location, here’s hoping they fare better in a LAN tournament.
Photo grabbed from Major All Stars (MAS) Facebook page.
Team Redemption (Malaysia)
Formerly known as Arrow Gaming, Team Redemption is exactly what their name implies after its members Fua Hsie “Lance” Wan, Kok Yi “ddz” Liong, Goh Choo “MoZuN” Jian, Kelvin “MtR” Chong and Chiok Soon “xiangzai” Siang were implicated in a match fixing scandal last October 2014.
After much deliberation from the organizing team of MAS, they have allowed Team Redemption to participate in lieu of their absence from other tournaments, as well as their inability to acquire an invite for TI5. A lot of people will be watching this team closely, not only as watchdogs for ethical offenses, but also to stand witness to their road to redemption.
Photo grabbed from Major All Stars (MAS) Facebook page.
Invictus Gaming (China)
Invictus Gaming comes into the tournament with a lot of buzz after some big name signings. Joining mainstays Hock Chuan “ChuaN” Wong, Fei Chi “Ferrari_430” Luo and Luo “Luo” Yinqi are Zhi Lei “BurNIng” Xu and a returning Hong Da “Faith” Zeng.
Timeless BurNIng, touted as one of the best carries in the game and widely known to have retired post The International 4 (TI), is back in action after his time with fellow “retired players” with Big God at the DAC. Faith is once again joining IG after his stint with LGD. Faith and ChuaN have proven to have chemistry as a support duo after winning TI 2 along with Ferrari_430 back in 2012.
IG is a team loaded with talent and experience so expect a strong showing for this Chinese team at the MAS even though this will be their first LAN with the new roster.
Photo grabbed from kaiiler.deviantart.com
Ninjas in Pyjamas (Sweden)
Ninjas in Pyjamas is a late entry into the MAS replacing the American Division’s qualifier winner eHug who had to bow out of the competition due to current form issues and communication problems with the organizers. Not actually a team from the American Division, this Swedish team won’t be coming into this tournament as front-runners, but they will certainly not be pushovers.
Simon “Handsken” Haag will lead the team composed of wonderkid Adrian “Era” Kryeziu from Fnatic fame, Jonas “jonsassomfan” Lindholm, Elias “Sealkid” Merta and new acquisition Linus “Linmp” Blomdin. As a fairly new team into the scene, chemistry and focus will be their main concerns coming into the MAS. Where will team captain Handsken lead the team? Will they have a strong showing? Or will they go to bed early? Only time will tell.
Photo grabbed from Major All Stars (MAS) Facebook page.
Team Empire (Russia)
The Russian giants come into the MAS with good reason to believe they can and will have a good showing in this LAN tournament. Team Empire has already bagged two 1st place finishes in 2015 alone (JoinDOTA Masters XV and Star Ladder Star Series Season 11).
The same core of the ever reliable Ayrat “Silent” Gaziev and Roman “Resolut1on” Fominok will be the foundation of Team Empire’s run in this tournament while team captain Maxim “yoky” Kim, Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko and Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin rounds up the team nicely. The team that clearly stood out in the European Qualifiers will probably not settle for less than a top half finish.
Will Rave be successful in their second #RAVEvolution campaign? Who will emerge on top? Who are your top three teams finishing MAS?
Photo banner by Juan Carlo Candido “Jucasa” Saquin
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