SEA League's First Qualifier Wraps Up

The first qualifier of SEA League ended recently, with 2 teams claiming their right to compete in the $1500 tournament.

The 2-day qualifier was participated upon by 8 different invited teams, all of with the goal of finishing within the Top 2 of the qualifiers. The double-elimination left little room for error.

The first day belonged to Singaporean team First Departure, who had also finished as runner-up on last Sunday's FD2L. They won all 4 matches that they had, including the Bo3 WB Finals against Dreamz. Not only did they win their matches, they also dominated majority of the time on their games.

The highlight of that day was First Departure's very close match against FullTilt on the Round 1. FD was able to get a 15k~ gold and exp lead, with a CK having the luxury to go VG + Shiva. However, they completely blew the lead away - and even had their back against the wall towards the late game. It called for desperate measures, including CK selling his Shiva's to get BKB. They were able to defend FullTilt's supposedly decisive push at middle though, and an ensuing big pick-off on the Luna who bought back won them the game.

First Departure. Photo Source: Flash eSports

The second half of the qualifiers was the day for the Loser's Bracket. FullTilt clawed their way up to the Finals of the Loser's Bracket, where they staged the Bo3 match-up against Dreamz. Of course, the winner will advance together with First Departure into the main tournament.

After losing the first game badly, Dreamz bounced back to win 2 highly contested victories. The best game was probably the 2nd game, where they were literally getting stomped at the beginning of the game. Once their heroes were able to get levels though, they were able to pull off big team fights with Naga, Seer and Disruptor. FullTilt fought until the bitter end, buying 2 Rapiers on separate heroes and occasions - and losing them.

SEA League will be a 16-team tournament, and only 4 teams have been announced at the moment.