Filipino Dota 2 squad, Neon Esports, has defeated Thailand’s Motivate.Trust Gaming, 2-1, in the grand final of the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League qualifier.

Neon Esports scored a huge upset win over the surging Thai squad, who were undefeated leading up to this final showdown.

Here’s a recap of the intense grand final action.


Game 1

At the start of the series, Neon used a split-push type lineup, with a mid lane Death Prophet for Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer, offlane Venomancer for Ryan Jay “Raging Potato” Qui, and safe lane Dragon Knight for Andrei “skem” Ong.

Meanwhile, MG.Trust drafted Faceless Void and Snapfire for their Chronosphere and Mortimer’s Kisses ultimate combo, along with a mid lane Ember Spirit for Poomipat “Fearless” Trisiripanit.

In the first game, MG.Trust showed they were totally prepared for Neon’s go-to strategy by winning their lanes and getting the better of the early game engagements. Neon eventually fell behind, giving MG.Trust the map control advantage during the mid-game phase. This allowed MG.Trust to apply more pressure on Neon Esports.

Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong’s Chronosphere and Anurat “boombell” Praianun’s Mortimer’s Kisses ultimate combo helped MG.Trust earn their first teamwipe of the series.

MG.Trust extended their lead by demolishing Neon during team clashes. Raging Potato failed to implement their split-push strategy, as JaCkky’s Faceless Void was too much for Neon’s heroes to handle.

MG.Trust eventually won the first game of the series by securing another teamwipe and catching skem’s Dragon Knight near the Radiant tower. Natthaphon “Masaros” Ouanphakdee also played an amazing game, landing multiple Hookshots on Neon.


Game 2

In game two, Neon Esports bet their tournament lives on a hard carry Venomancer for skem in the Dire safe lane. The team then chose to go with a mid lane Morphling for Yopaj, and an offlane Treant Protector for Raging Potato.

Meanwhile, MG.Trust drafted two strong team fight heroes with the mid lane Death Prophet for Fearless and the Centaur Warrunner for Masaros. The team also went with the popular Anti-Mage and Lich combo for JaCkky and boombell.

Both teams’ core heroes had a great start in their lanes, but Neon surprised MG.Trust, having Raging Potato’s Treant Protector hunt down JaCkky’s Anti-Mage. With a quickly farmed Meteor Hammer, Raging Potato took control of MG.Trust’s hard carry and applied pressure all around the map.

Raging Potato’s early gameplays helped Yopaj’s Morphling and skem’s Veomancer speed up their farm. Neon then gained complete map control, and extended their gold and experience lead.

Neon won a fight right by the Rosh Pit, thanks to Yopaj’s Morphling jumping from target to target with his Aghanim’s Scepter. Yopaj morphed into PlayHard’s Earthshaker, and used the Enchant Totem ability to erase MG.Trust heroes from the fight.

Neon eventually evened up the series by taking down all of MG.Trust’s Barracks, with Yopaj finishing the game with an impressive Rampage on his Morphling.



Game 3

In the final game of the series, MG.Trust went with a safe lane Spectre, and a group of control heroes made up of Kunkka, Pangolier, Skywrath Mage, and Winter Wyvern.

Meanwhile, Neon Esports drafted an unorthodox lineup with core Tiny on Yopaj. The team also chose an offlane Beastmaster for Raging Potato and a mid lane Death Prophet for skem.

Neon Esports took the early game advantage by having Yopay’s Tiny roam the map early to win most of their lanes. This hindered JaCkky’s ability to farm and forced MG.Trust’s other heroes out of their lanes.

While down 10,000 gold to Neon, MG.Trust decided they needed to make a play before their opponents could siege their Dire base and build up their lead even more. This led to Neon losing a major team fight, after MG.Trust caught the retreating heroes in a narrow choke point where all their spells did maximum damage. This also helped JaCkky’s Spectre gain substantial farm and equalized the game for MG.Trust.

At the 36-minute mark, MG.Trust committed to a major team fight because they had the Aegis of the Immortal and Cheese advantage. But Neon proved they had better team fight coordination by eliminating MG.Trust’s support heroes quickly, leaving the Dire team’s cores to fend for themselves.

MG.Trust also made the critical mistake of taking a team fight without enough gold for their core heroes to buy back. As a result, Neon took down all the Dire team’s Barracks and claiming mega creeps. A few minutes later, JaCkky was caught all alone in the bottom lane and was quickly eliminated. Since he didn’t have enough gold to buy back, Neon ran straight into the Dire base and ended the series.

With the 2-1 series win, Neon Esports will join Team Adroit, Boom Esports, Fnatic, Geek Fam, Reality Rift, T1, TNC Predator, Flower Gaming, and Execration in the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League, which kicks off on June 18.

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