MANILA, Philippines – Filipino Dota 2 (multiplayer online battle arena video game) team Execration (XctN) was directly invited by American video game developer Valve to the first Major Dota 2 Competition of the season that will be held on December 3-10, 2016 at Wang Theater in Boston, USA.
Sixteen teams will be battling in the tournament for the prize pool of $3,000,000.00 (Php 147,000,000). They will be competing with other invited teams Wings Gaming (China), Digital Chaos, Evil Geniuses (US), Newbee (China), Ehome (China), OG and MVP Phoenix (South Korea). They will also be joined by the winners of the Boston Major Open Regional Qualifiers, Team Faceless (South East Asia Regional Qualifier winner), Ad Finem (Europe Regional Qualifier winner), Team NP (Americas Regional Qualifier winner) and LGY (China Regional Qualifier Winner).
Execration was the first ever Filipino team to receive a direct invite to a Dota 2 Major event. The team’s line-up consists of Khim “Gabbi” Villafuerte, Abed “Abed” Yusop, Rafael “Rapy ”Sicat Palo, Djardel Jicko “DJ” B. Mampusti, Captain Kimuel “Kim0” Rodis and their new import Adam“ 343 Shah Hussein. Their win in the SEA MPGL Dota 2 Championship held last September, where Gabbi’s superb use of the hero Puck and Abed’s one of a kind Meepo, got the attention of the whole Dota 2 community and paved the way for them to participate in the Boston Major.
DJ’s and 343’s experiences in the international scene will escalate the chance of the Filipino team to grab the top spot and win the competition. DJ and 343 both played for Fnatic as supporting roles during The International 6. They are both known to have great initiation and warding skills which can turnaround clashes to their own favor and get hero kills. With Captain Kim0’s leadership, Execration might be able to bag the top prize.
UPDATE 1: Dota 2 Pro Filipino team Execration may not be able to participate in Boston Major due to visa issues
Execration’s captain Kimuel “Kim0” Borromeo Rodis just confirmed on his Facebook page today that their team may not be able to participate in the Boston Major. Visa applications of Abed, Gabbi and himself were denied. With only 3 days before the event, chances of them attending are very
Valve and Execration’s management are finding another solution and they are still hoping that they may be granted with P1 athletic visas before Dec. 2, 2016. If not, Chinese team LGD will be replacing them in the competition. Execration was not the only team who are afflicted with visa problems. Some players of LGD.FY and IG.V got their visas denied that they are forced to find last minute replacements for them to be able to join the tournament.
UPDATE 2: LGD replaces Execration
The Dota 2 Filipino team have faced the same issue during The International 6. TNC and Execration were only able to secure US visa a day before their flight to Seattle with the help of Philippine Senator Bam Aquino and US Senator Maria Cantwell. Other eSports Filipino teams have also been plagued with the same fate. Last April 2015, Korea-based all Filipino Dota 2 team Rave was offloaded on a plane bound to Seoul because of immigration document issues, missing them a chance to qualify on a major tournament.
The Dota Major Championships are events arranged by Valve. Each year, four tournaments are held on premier venues around the world. The Boston Major (Fall Major) is the first of the series for the season. The succeeding tournament details are usually announced at the end of each event. Last year, Spring Major venue was in Manila. The International (TI), the tournament with the highest prize pool (last TI6 prize pool was $20.77 Million), concludes the end of the series.
--NG, The Summit Express
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| Execration joins The Boston Major 2016. Image courtesy of Execration’s official Facebook page |
Sixteen teams will be battling in the tournament for the prize pool of $3,000,000.00 (Php 147,000,000). They will be competing with other invited teams Wings Gaming (China), Digital Chaos, Evil Geniuses (US), Newbee (China), Ehome (China), OG and MVP Phoenix (South Korea). They will also be joined by the winners of the Boston Major Open Regional Qualifiers, Team Faceless (South East Asia Regional Qualifier winner), Ad Finem (Europe Regional Qualifier winner), Team NP (Americas Regional Qualifier winner) and LGY (China Regional Qualifier Winner).
Execration was the first ever Filipino team to receive a direct invite to a Dota 2 Major event. The team’s line-up consists of Khim “Gabbi” Villafuerte, Abed “Abed” Yusop, Rafael “Rapy ”Sicat Palo, Djardel Jicko “DJ” B. Mampusti, Captain Kimuel “Kim0” Rodis and their new import Adam“ 343 Shah Hussein. Their win in the SEA MPGL Dota 2 Championship held last September, where Gabbi’s superb use of the hero Puck and Abed’s one of a kind Meepo, got the attention of the whole Dota 2 community and paved the way for them to participate in the Boston Major.
DJ’s and 343’s experiences in the international scene will escalate the chance of the Filipino team to grab the top spot and win the competition. DJ and 343 both played for Fnatic as supporting roles during The International 6. They are both known to have great initiation and warding skills which can turnaround clashes to their own favor and get hero kills. With Captain Kim0’s leadership, Execration might be able to bag the top prize.
UPDATE 1: Dota 2 Pro Filipino team Execration may not be able to participate in Boston Major due to visa issues
Execration’s captain Kimuel “Kim0” Borromeo Rodis just confirmed on his Facebook page today that their team may not be able to participate in the Boston Major. Visa applications of Abed, Gabbi and himself were denied. With only 3 days before the event, chances of them attending are very
Valve and Execration’s management are finding another solution and they are still hoping that they may be granted with P1 athletic visas before Dec. 2, 2016. If not, Chinese team LGD will be replacing them in the competition. Execration was not the only team who are afflicted with visa problems. Some players of LGD.FY and IG.V got their visas denied that they are forced to find last minute replacements for them to be able to join the tournament.
UPDATE 2: LGD replaces Execration
The Dota 2 Filipino team have faced the same issue during The International 6. TNC and Execration were only able to secure US visa a day before their flight to Seattle with the help of Philippine Senator Bam Aquino and US Senator Maria Cantwell. Other eSports Filipino teams have also been plagued with the same fate. Last April 2015, Korea-based all Filipino Dota 2 team Rave was offloaded on a plane bound to Seoul because of immigration document issues, missing them a chance to qualify on a major tournament.
The Dota Major Championships are events arranged by Valve. Each year, four tournaments are held on premier venues around the world. The Boston Major (Fall Major) is the first of the series for the season. The succeeding tournament details are usually announced at the end of each event. Last year, Spring Major venue was in Manila. The International (TI), the tournament with the highest prize pool (last TI6 prize pool was $20.77 Million), concludes the end of the series.
--NG, The Summit Express
