The fifth and final invite for the Manila Masters goes to another North American team, after Evil Geniuses were the first announced to attend the event.
Without European or CIS qualifier runs for The Manila Masters, the organizers decided to grant the last invite to NP, which means that the bracket comes in pairs: two North American teams (NP and EG), two European (OG and Secret), two Chinese (Invictus Gaming and Newbee) and two SEA teams. The Southeast Asian squads are yet to be decided, with one due to be picked via local Filipino qualifiers and one via a SEA qualifier round, about which no information has been made public yet.
NP didn’t have what could be described a successful start to this year. They placed 5th/6th at ESL One Genting in January and then failed to qualify for the StarLadder I-league StarSeries Season 3, and most importantly lost the Kiev Major NA qualifiers. The only event NP qualified for, so far, is the upcoming DAC.
The Manila Masters main event will take place at the SM Mall of Asia from 26th to 28th of May with a $250,000 prize pool on the line and a potential TI7 direct invite secured for the winners. Without too many other large events going on until TI7, and without taking part at the Kiev Major, NP are looking for a stellar performance at both DAC and Manila Masters.
