Philippines Knocked-Out by Swedes, but Wins Int’l Respect
[UPDATED: 6:06 P.M.]
47 minutes. 47 hard fought minutes.
Philippine team, Inter Active Philippines Execration (IAP.XctN), bowed out of contention after getting knocked out by Swedish team, The Alliance ([A]), in a hard fought, 47-minute game in the loser’s bracket of StarLadder TV (SLTV) X Local Area Network (LAN) finals yesterday night (Philippine time).
The Alliance showed early game aggression as they picked off IAP.XctN Ryan “Bimbo” Qui’s Naga Siren in the middle lane at the first minute, coming out from a nice rotation by [A].Rasmus “MiSeRy” Fillipsen’s Treant Protector. By the 10th minute, [A] posed a 13-4 kill lead, constantly picking off IAP.XctN Earlwin “Ewe” Libre’s Centaur Warrunner in the bottom lane followed by clashes around the map. Coming to the middle game, [A].Jonathan “Loda” Berg’s Anti-Mage topped the net worth (NW) chart with 11,700 NW followed by IAP.XctN.Bimbo’s Naga Siren (10,000). Twenty-two minutes into the game, [A]’s kill lead continues to grow, making it an 11-deficit kill; 21-10.
IAP.XctN continued to buy some time for Naga Siren’s farm, but the Swedes were nowhere to be stopped, as they took advantage of their gold and experience lead, finding crucial pickoffs and getting into clash. By the 38th minute mark, the Swedes posed a 33-16 kill lead and [A].Loda’s Anti-Mage was basically unstoppable by that time being 6-slotted already. Forty-two minutes into the game, the Filipinos made their last stand, defending their bottom lane, and being able to kill the Anti-Mage, giving him just his second death of the game. Moments later, the Swedes seized the Filipinos once more, winning another clash and forcing the Good Game (GG) call (which means forfeit) at the 47th minute.
“We just made so many mistakes (sic)… a bit bad,” Kimuel “KimO” Rodis, IAP.XctN’s captain, said in an interview with eSports Inquirer.
Photo grabbed from Execration Dota 2 Fan page
The team’s inexperience in the international stage was a factor in their defeat, as commentated by David “LD” Gorman during the match.
“We just need to be prepared (sic) and to improve,” Ewe said in a tweet to eSports Inquirer.
They won’t come home empty-handed, as they will bring with them something great, something they earned — the lessons and respect.
“I was really sad and happy at the same time… sad about losing and happy about learning something really important,” Kim0 said, who celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday. “Yes indeed [we received] a lot [of praises from other teams]. It’s just great to hear praises from people you idolize.”
Amid controversies back home, and being regarded as the underdog of the tournament, they showed the true strength of Filipino spirit — not only by defeating the Russian flag bearer, Virtus.Pro (VP) but also by showing early game dominance and even going toe-to-toe with Ukrainian powerhouse, Natus Vincere (Na’Vi) and Team Secret. The commentators and analysts were not only impressed but also shocked at the level of play that the Filipinos showed in the international stage.
“Great performance by the team. (E)ven though we didn’t win our games, every game was [a] close match. Not only we gain experience, [but] we [also] gain respect from other teams,” said Arvin “Beho” Risos, team manager of IAP.XctN. “Kudos to all IAP players, they did what they have to do. No regrets on sending this team to Ukraine.”
IAP.XctN Ewe (Photo grabbed from Execration Dota 2 Facebook page)
“Kudos to Beho and team IAP.EXECRATION for a good performance at StarLadder… Hindi ninyo man napanalo, pero napakita ninyo sa buong mundo na bawal maliit ang mga pinoy!” Ronald “Rhom” Robins, the father of Philippine eSports, posted on his Facebook account.
IAP.XctN placed 7th/8th and will bring home $5,784~ (P263,155~). The team is also participating in online tournaments such as WePlay Dota 2 League, Synergy League and The Summit 2.
Photo banner grabbed from Execration Dota 2 Facebook page.
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