You can read my blog about day 1 here.
It's not everyday you get to see Hefla proposing to a girl at MPGL.
Day 2 of MPGL started early to finish off the lower bracket games due to uncheduled tiebreakers on the previous day. The games progressed steadily throughout, with some long half-an-hour breaks in between some games due to technical difficulties. The game client server was down for a short while, but the issue was resolved quickly. There wasn't as many people as I expected there to be on the second day of the event; there were several vacant seats and the hall was less crowded than the day before. The crowd also seemed to be less energetic today. It may be because it was also Mother's Day that there were less people present.
I arrived at around 12 pm as well just in time to catch Signature.Trust vs Mineski.Dota 2. The games were action-packed as usual and it was hard to decide who would win the games. For this tournament I was quite sure that MVP.Hot6ix would perform the best, however during the ban-pick phases of their games I always doubt they would win against stronger lineups, but MVP.Hot6ix keeps proving me wrong and I am always surprised with what strategies they have up their sleeves. (Especially the Mirana pick in one of the games vs Energy Pacemakers, I thought she would be less useful in their lineup but again, they overthrew my expectations.) I respect them for their steady plays, and when Danelie interviewed Heen he did mention that he usually picks heroes that his teammates enjoy playing, so that they could perform better.
From left to right, Icey, Xyclops, Flava, Dan Lo, Mikelorus and Hefla.
Like the day before, there were many giveaways during the breaks between games. The host gave out Selangor Cyber Games shirts as well as wristbands to the audience, along with Gigabyte and Steelseries merchandise. Two lucky guys faced off in a dance battle to win Steelseries mouse and mousepad, it was entertaining to watch.
The funniest though, was the casters' special stage. They were invited on stage along with Icey and their mission was to throw at her their best pick-up lines and try to succeed in wooing her. Dan Lo started off by asking her out for a drink but she didn't buy it. Mike really cracked up the crowd he said "If I was Tidehunter, I'd buy a refresher orb and ravage you. Twice." (I hope I remember correctly. I was laughing too hard to note every word he said.) Hefla didn't want to lose to the others, and so he knelt down in front of Icey and said "Wo Ai Ni" (meaning "I love you", it's in Chinese). That definitely got the crowd going. After that, it was Flava's turn and he said "Is that your boyfriend's car outside?", and as Icey replies that she doesn't have one, he continues: "Because it's mine." SMOOTH. Yet, among all the casters, Xyclops had the most fans in Malaysia. As soon as he stepped out, the crowd cheered for him. I've never been an avid fan of Xyclops, but I am attracted to his personality. He's very shy and cheerful, not to mention very polite. HHe asked Icey, "You know, you're pretty. Do your work in a farm?" When she answered "no", he said shyly and reluctantly, "Really? Because you raised my..." and trailed off there, and everyone was laughing at his attempt (Mike was almost doubling over.)
Apart from the giveaways, there was a cosplay performance as well. The cosplayers prepared a BGM with the heroes voices and they acted according to the heroes voices. It was really cool, and my favorite was the Crystal Maiden! She really reenacted Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field well. Isn't she gorgeous?
In case you missed this, this is the secret shop at MPGL. On the top left of the counter is the magnificent Roshan priced at RM 3,999.
Danelie and Mikelorus casting together on the side of the stage.
Hefla and Flava chilling while Mikelorus and Danelie was casting.
Hefla: "WinteR playing Winter (Wyvern). That's funny."
The day was coming to an end with the undefeated MVP.Hot6ix against Energy Pacemakers at the grand finals of MPGL. The Koreans were at a one game advantage in the winner's bracket of the BO3 series, and they had to win one more game to secure the the championship. However, the games were brought to a tie as EP takes over game 2 by oldchicken's QoP ganking the whole game.
The last game went to MVP.Hot6ix as the team created space for Forev's Huskar to farm and eventually snowball in the game, leaving EP powerless against his spears of fury. (LOL)
If you want to know a more detailed desciption of the matches, you can read more here.
MVP.Hot6ix wins $30,000, followed by EP securing 2nd place with $10,000. 3rd and 4th place goes to Mineski.Dota 2 and G-Guard respectively.
All in all it was a refreshing experience after the mess I experienced in Major All Stars, and I think it was a successful event. I hope to see more events happening in Malaysia and I can see the E-sports scene in SEA growing more positively in the future.
