Clutch Gamers snatched another LAN, over powering TnC Pro 3:1 in the Grand finals of the Manila Masters Philippines qualifier.
The Manila Masters granted local teams a unique and exciting opportunity for a chance to participate in the main event. With events being held in 20 different cities all over the Philippines each weekend through April 23rd, teams were able to secure a spot in the pre qualifiers and ultimately a chance to compete in the playoffs alongside Clutch Gamers, TNC Pro Team, Execration, HappyFeet for the one allotted spot in in the main event.
In the end, it was the usual suspects locking horns in the Grand Finals.
Clutch Gamers, the rising stars of the region, had cruised through the playoffs undefeated. It was little surprise for fans following their progress to see them emerge in the grand finals.
Their opponents, TnC Pro have been consistently a local favorite - having just shown some stand out performances at the Kiev Major last month.
As these two Pinoy teams battled it out to represent the hometown crowd at the Manila Masters, fans loyalties were torn and divided.
The first game witnessed Clutch Gamers claim a resounding victory with an incredible comeback. Although TnC had controlled the beginning of the game, Clutch chipped away at the lead and turned the game on their heads about 43 minutes in.
Charging forward in the second game, fueled by the fire of their victory and momentum, they overwhelmingly bested their rivals once again. In only 26 minutes, Clutch Gamers beat down TnC boasting a 2:0 lead over them and dancing on the edge or the coveted spot. With their back's against the walls, TnC went back to the drawing board and retooled their strategy and approach.
Refusing to go out that easy, TnC stuck their ground and didn't let Clutch gain any advantage on them in the third game. Almost one hour later they closed out their first victory and had managed to keep the series alive.
The fourth game was a wild one - another almost 1 hour long match finishing with Clutch Gamers as the victors, despite the lead TnC had on them throughout! With everything they could muster up, Clutch Gamers would not be shut down or walked over. With that extraordinary ending, Clutch Gamers sealed their place in the Manila Masters.
Road to Manila Masters for Filipino teams
- 20 nationwide qualifier winners moved on to play in a group stage
- 12 teams eliminated
- 8 teams advanced to prequalifiers
- 8 national qualified teams were joined by 5 online qualified teams and 3 seeded teams for prequalifiers
- 4 teams advance to the Philippines qualifier
- 4 teams directly invited to Philippines qualifiers - Clutch Gamers, TNC Pro Team, Execration, HappyFeet
- 1 team - Clutch Gamers advanced to the main event
Manila Masters
- May 26-28th
- $250,000 prize pool
- Mall of Asia - Manila, Philippines
- Eight teams
- Five directly invited teams -Evil Geniuses/OG/Newbee/Team Secret/Team NP
- Three qualified teams - Invictus Gaming/Team Faceless/Clutch Gamers
The Mall of Asia
The Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines is a rather new, state-of-the-art in-door venue. The arena was only inaugurated in 2012 and has a seating capacity of 16,000 for sporting events, and a full house capacity of 20,000.
It hosted ESL One Manila in April 2016 and Manila Major in June 2016.
