Execration has claimed their spot at The International 2017 - becoming the second team to represent the Philippines at the pinnacle of all Dota 2 events.
Yesterday, Execration suffered at the hands of Fnatic's stellar performance, dropping down to the lower brackets to take the long and bumpy road to Seattle. Earlier today the team went to work to bring themselves back to the surface as Execration edged out Mineski 2:1, knocking the Filipino/CIS mix team out of contention. Keeping their dreams alive another round, they advanced to the final elimination series against Clutch Gamers to determine their fate.
Clutch Gamers had swept through Mineski 2:0 yesterday and then also suffered the same fate at the hands of Fnatic in the upper bracket finals. Dropping to the lower brackets, the Filipino team were left to lock horns in one final series against their brethren with hopes to take the spot for TI7.
The first game got underway with a relatively even laning phase. Clutch Gamers were quick on the draw to start pulling ahead with kills and objectives, maintaing most of the control enough to keep one step ahead. Clutch Gamers' draft just seemed to work better with a much smoother execution and they were able to clinch the win.
In the second game XctN came out of the gate swinging. Quickly the game spiraled out of Clutch Gamers' control. Faced against the Drow Ranger, even defending the high ground push was an insurmountable task, leaving Clutch unable to recover from their deficit. XctN dominated from start to finish depsite a great performance by Khim 'Gabbi' Villafuerte on Phantom Assassin. Their win pushed it to a third and final deciding match.
With their backs against the wall, XctN were firing on all cylinders taking the runes, first blood and setting the tempo only ten seconds into the game. Six minutes into the game XctN were leading 6:0 with Clutch Gamers struggling to get a kill on the board or find their groove. The deathball strategy coming out from Clutch Gamers only seemed to further XctN's lead and taking of objectives all around the map. Execration started to just run circles around Clutch Gamers with outstanding performances and decision making. Slowly, Clutch chipped away at the lead and didn't succumb to the pressure that was intensifying. Giving XctN a run for their money towards the end, things got too close for comfort as Clutch almost were able to snatch the win away from them in a thrilling late game where they were able to secure two lanes of barracks against Mega Creeps. In just over 70 minutes of game play, XctN were able to finally close out the victory and take the game, the series and the TI7 spot.
Execration
After a spate of sub-par performances and little to no results to show, Khim 'Gabbi' Villafuerte left for Clutch Gamers at the end of March, followed immediately by Djardel Jicko B. 'DJ' Mampusti taking his leave for Fnatic. Left to rebuild their roster, the new lineup was not announced until June 22nd.
The team thrived in the TI7 SEA Open Qualifiers #1, taking the first spot in the regionals. They then were able to squeak by into the playoffs after moving ahead of Team Faceless, taking the fifth and final place in the group stage.
Execration roster
Fernando 'Nando' Mendoza
James 'CartMaN' Palatolon John
Ryan 'Bimbo/Raging Potato' Jay Qui
Ralph Richard 'RR' Peñano
Kimuel 'Kim0' Rodis
The International 7
The International is the annual Dota 2 tournament hosted by Valve Corporation which made its debut in August 2011, with a total prize pool of $1.6 million.
Last year’s event, TI6, took place between August 2nd-13th at the KeyArena – a multi-purpose arena in Seattle, Washington, with a maximum capacity of over 17,000. The Dota 2 community contributed with a staggering $19,170,460 to the $1.6 million base prize pool, making the total prize fund $20,770,460 (that's right - millions) the largest in esports history so far. The International titleholder is the Chinese team Wings Gaming, who will not be on board to defend their title after suffering a fracture in the roster composition and break from the organization only months ago.
This year’s main event will once again take place at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, between August 7th-12th. Featuring 18 teams for the first time.
OG (direct invite)
Virtus.Pro (direct invite)
Evil Geniuses (direct invite)
Team Liquid (direct invite)
Invictus Gaming (direct invite)
Newbee (direct invite)
Team Secret (EU qualifier)
NP (NA qualifier)
TnC (SEA qualifier)
Fnatic (SEA qualifier)
iG.Vitality (CN qualifier)
Execration(SEA qualifier)
TBD (EU qualifier)
TBD (CIS qualifier)
TBD (NA qualifier)
TBD (SA qualifier)
TBD (CN qualifier)
TBD (CN qualifier)
The International 7 prize pool is already outpacing The International 6 one. As of June 29th, the total TI7 prize pool has already reached $19.7 million, thus on track to breaking records once again and becoming the largest in esports history.
