Three months have passed since the announcement of ROG MASTERS – a new tournament designed to scout out and promote the rising talent of Asia and Oceania. 590 teams signed up to fight in the first stage and now, after the five regional Online Qualifiers, twenty finalists stand ready to clash for a 200,000 USD prize pool and international fame. In Kuala Lumpur from November 10th, two days of playoffs will set the stage for the Grand Finals: a weekend of masterful Dota 2 and CS:GO. Hosted by the one and only Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner, it promises to be an explosive culmination of the search for Asia’s rising talent.
Before the big event, however, the skill displayed undoubtedly deserves a round-up. Below are the highlights of the most open, widespread eSports competition Asia has ever seen.
Dota 2
In the Dota 2 Qualifiers we saw the start of the rise of a new generation. Daring picks, amazing teamwork and sheer determination were all on show. Brackets packed with talent gave us tense and exciting showdowns, and we saw the ones to watch bringing their best to every match.
The grassroots showed serious promise. In the first OCE round, BoBo Leon held the defensive line against pros Arcanys, farmed up perfectly, and came back after an astonishing 80 minutes with a 60k networth Medusa, demolishing their opponents. While the exhausted BoBo Leon fell in the final round, the Grand Finals place went to fellow grassroots talents Big and Black.
Over in India, pro team Dare2Dream suffered a surprise loss against rookies Aggressive 5. A5 were down most of the match but, true to their name, seized on a small opportunity and flipped the game by trashing the enemy base.
But it was Team Taivnaa in East Asia who won our hearts: a group of friends from Mongolia playing for fun… with the skills to roll over Korean pros MVP Hot6ix in the final round, taking a ticket to Kuala Lumpur!
Of course, the more experienced players were not content with just being stepping stones for the young upstarts! Natural 9 and Mineski shredded all competition – pros and rookies alike – to steamroll on through.
New kids on the block, India’s newly formed pro team ENTiTy Esports gave us pause with a surprise Morphling support pick… and then a glorious application of Aghanim’s Scepter. Twice-replicated teammates and an absolute hammering of their opponents followed, making these finalists ones to watch for sure.
But the true superstar would be the Invoker of EHOME.X. He played the match of his life against LYG.Gaming, landing two flawless Sunstrikes and putting in such incredible map awareness and teamfight performance that he turned the entire game.
CS:GO
Mongolia’s Savor The Fear can go to Malaysia boasting of having beaten out teams from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong, including the indomitable MVP Project. But the best moment of East Aseia’s CS:GO playoffs undoubtedly came in the other bracket, when tsogoo of The MongolZ spontaneously turned the game into a class on pistol precision and decimated opponents Ignis with four kills in one clip.
Risky Gaming were the highlight of ROA CS:GO: a team that showed precious synergy, with every player taking the lead at different points. Best shown here – a boost from t0ks puts kitkat in an unexpected corner, lets him wipe out two opponents, secure the bomb, and get an ace.
The story of the SEA Qualifier, meanwhile, was the story of crazyguy. A Vietnamese CS:GO prodigy, he appeared as part of team Sabertooth who proceeded to absolutely wreck the competition. Not even Vikings.Vortex – slayers of Mineski in the match before – could slow them down. In Kuala Lumpur, we’ll find out if anything can.
On to the Grand Finals
After the upsets and clutches, sweeps and reversals, every finalist team has proven itself beyond doubt. Tune in on November 12th and 13th to join ReDeYe and our dedicated CS:GO and Dota 2 talent lineups as they follow the matches, get to know the players, and chart the potential first steps of Asia and Oceania’s next eSports stars.