It's over. The Malaysians were unseated by a surprising winner. After two days of grueling competition, TGX 2011 has crowned a champion. Facing stiff competition from regional powerhouses, Mineski Infinity, arguably the underdogs of this competition, have risen to the challenge to take home the grand prize of 3,000 SGD ($2,500) and the title of TGX 2011 champions.
Last year's champions Starsboba were unable to defend the title as they exited from the competition early. However, that did not stop the other competitors from putting up amazing performances. The Grand Finals was no surprise - Orange eSports, the team which put up a spectacular fight against Starsboba the previous day were back with a vengeance and the team from the Philippines, Mineski, were in it for the win as well.
Without dropping a single game throughout the tournament, Mineski have taken the Championship in style.
Game 1 | |
Orange eSports | Mineski Infinity |
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The Mineski side were able to get an early first blood with a team roam before the creeps spawned. Establishing early presence at top with Lycanthrope, Lion and a jungling Chen, Sentinel's triple lane were somehow unable to deal with the constant pressure of Chen in the woods. Weaver's farm was hampered for the first ten minutes.
Thankfully for the Malaysians, a strong mid game performance by Puck and Beastmaster meant that Orange was not out of the game just yet. Even as Lycanthrope scored two easy Roshans, the team still found themselves able to defend their base from the Philippine onslaught with the aid of Venomancer's wards and the long range skills from Beastmaster and Puck which easily cleared the creep waves.
However, a smoke gank by the entire Mineski team at around 25 minutes in the Sentinel forests took out Mushi's Puck and the Philippine team stormed Sentinel's bottom barracks. After a successful team fight which went Mineski's way, they took middle barracks as well and it was soon a matter of time before the top barracks fell.
After 30 odd minutes of play, Mineski successfully took mega creeps and Orange eSports had no choice but to call it "GG". The Pinoys were officially champions of TGX 2011.
TGX 2011 | ||
Placing | Team | Prizes |
First Place | Mineski Infinity | 3,000 SGD ($2,500) + Products |
Second Place | Orange eSports | 2,000 SGD ($1,600) + Products |
Third Place | MUFC | 1,000 SGD ($800) + Products |
TGX 2011 has certainly offered fans a glimpse of South East Asian DotA at its best. With its conclusion, who will SEA send to represent the region at the year end LANs (WDC and ESWC)? The Philippines certainly look like they are making a comeback in the scene - and their performance in Germany and Singapore has certainly cemented their stand.