Filipinos Dethrone Two-Time Korean Champions
Filipinos dethrone two-time Korean champions in Korea Dota League (KDL) Season 4, Saturday, Dec. 20.
In a highly anticipated grand finals meet after Rave fell short against MVP a few days prior at the StarLadder XI Local Area Network (LAN) Finals, Rave-Dota defeated the two-time and defending KDL champion, Korea’s own MVP.Phoenix, 3-2, in the KDL Season 4 Grand Finals.
The series went to a game 5 deciding match where the Filipinos steamrolled over the Koreans. Rave got the upper hand early in the game, dominating every lane and getting pick off after pick off. The first clash of the game happened in the bottom lane at the 11-minute mark. It was a 4 for 1 exchange in favor of the Filipinos. However, a buyback from each team was used: one by Rave.Jio “Jeyo” Madayag’s Ember Spirit and another by MVP Taewon “March” Park’s Jakiro.
CLASH. The first clash of the game in the bottom lane
Two minutes after, Rave smoked up and sneaked into the Roshan pit — killing Roshan in just a few seconds. The Filipinos then opted to farm their jungle, while the Koreans smoked up and forced them into a clash. Rave turned the gank by MVP around as they took a 4 for 1 trade. There was now a 15-5 kill score in favor of Rave.
NOT IN OUR JUNGLE. Rave Dota turned around a smoked gank by MVP.Phoenix.
Two more skirmishes happened between the teams, all ending in favor of Rave Dota. The nuke-combination of Rave’s Michael “nb” Ross’ Zeus and Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa’s Elder Titan proved potent as they easily evaporated MVP’s heroes one by one. Twenty minutes into the game, Rave posed a 17-kill lead over the Koreans — 24-7.
Djardel “Chrissy” Mampusti’s Templar Assassin from Rave was the biggest threat for the defending champions. Twenty-two minutes into the game, Templar Assassin had Yasha, Blink Dagger, Desolator and Phase Boots, picking off MVP’s support heroes in just one to two shots. At the same time, Rave took down Roshan for the second time.
Templar Assassin was unstoppable by this moment; he had an enormous 16,000 net worth, 26 minutes in. The Koreans sought for pick offs to balance the game. A three-man gank by MVP.Phoenix in the top lane caught Jeyo’s Ember Spirit off guard.
There was now a 25-9 kill score, Rave Dota.
As Sun “QO” Kim’s Death Prophet picked up his Heart of Tarrasque, Templar Assassin got two items at the same time (Manta Style and Black King Bar). The game was stalled until the 33-minute mark where MVP.Phoenix sniped the third Roshan kill of the game, giving the aegis on the Death Prophet and the cheese on Jakiro.
KNOCK! KNOCK! The Filipinos seized the top lane of the Koreans.
A crucial clash at the 34-minute mark sealed the defeat of the Koreans as the Filipinos seized their base in the top lane. Rave initiated a clash which ended yet again in a 4 for 1 trade in favor of the Filipinos. On top of that, they took down the top tier 3 tower and forced two buybacks from MVP.Phoenix.
Three minutes after, Rave came back in the top lane to take down the top lane set of barracks. Death Prophet was caught out of position as it was swapped by Rave’s captain Mark “Cast” Pilar’s Vengeful Spirit into Rave’s side. The damage being dealt by Templar Assassin was off the charts. The attack boosts that he received from Vengeful Spirit’s third skill (+32% damage) and Elder Titan’s Natural Order (reduces enemy’s base armor and resistance) proved too much.
After taking down the top lane set of barracks, Rave rotated into the middle lane and took another set of barracks. Forty minutes in, Rave posed a 23,000 net worth difference. The Filipinos didn’t waste any time as they pushed the bottom lane and eventually got into clash with the Koreans that resulted into a three for nil trade for Rave. The Koreans couldn’t see any hope anymore after the clash and called the concession at the 41-minute mark.
The final kill score was 33-12.
“[We are] so happy because after of almost one year of stay here in Korea, we achieved our championship goal,” Pilar told eSports Inquirer.
Other members of Rave Dota also expressed their joy over their second title of the year — the first being the Mineski Pro Gaming League (MPGL) Southeast Asian (SEA) VI crown.
“Another title in the bag :),” Ross wrote in his Facebook post.
“I feel good. Really good. I’m just happy right now,” Jeyo said in the post-game interview.
“I’m just thinking of my son, that’s all,” ryOyr answered when asked by the host during the post-game about what was on his mind.
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