By Matt Llew of The Level
Just this past weekend, some 15,000 Dota 2 fans, joined by over a million tuning in worldwide, gathered at the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai to watch their favorite players and teams duke it out at The Shanghai Major for a prize pool of US$3,000,000. Yes, three million US Dollars – larger than the prize pool of Le Tour de France (approx US $2,200,000).
For the uninitiated, Dota 2 is a video game developed by Valve Corporation that pits players in a 5v5 battle of wits and skill, and is classified under the genres of MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) and ARTS (Action Real-Time Strategy).
4 local boys (Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung, Yeik “Miduan” Nai Zheng, Chong “Ohaiyo” Xin Khoo, and Lim “Net” Wai Pern) and their Filipino comrade (Djardel Jicko B. “DJ” Mampusti) of teamFnatic (pronounced “fanatic”) have done us proud by finishing a joint 5-6th tie at the Dota 2 Shanghai Major.
Malaysia-based Fnatic’s joint 5-6th placing is the highest finish by a Malaysia-based team at a major international Dota 2 tournament since 2013, – when Orange eSports placed 3rd at that year’s installment of The International. The International, or TI, is considered the Dota 2 equivalent of the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics. Interestingly enough, 3 members of the 2013 Orange eSports team are currently members of Fnatic.
Fnatic came into the tournament as major underdogs and were widely predicted to not even make the Top 8 out of the 16 teams participating, but proceeded to prove their doubters wrong with some innovative tactics and breathtaking performances.
After a decent showing in the group stages, Fnatic were knocked out of the upper bracket by defending TI 2015 Champions EG, before beginning an impressive lower bracket run where they knocked out former TI 2014 Champions Newbee and Frankfurt Major 2015 Champions OG. Our boys were eventually eliminated by South Korea-based MVP Phoenix, another underdog team that surpassed all expectations at the tournament.
So, why is this significant, and what does this mean for the future? Malaysia used to be one of the more respected countries in the realm of Dota & Dota 2, famed for producing highly talented players. However, our nation’s potential seemed to have peaked in 2013, when Orange eSports finished 3rd at The International in 2013, which Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted about despite not fully understanding what was going on.
Since then, Malaysia-based teams have disappointed at major international tournaments.Titan placed joint 9-10th at The International 2014, and Fnatic (yes, the ones who just placed joint 5-6th) finished dead last in a joint 13-16th place tie at The International 2015 despite both teams being favoured for Top 8 finishes.
After much perseverance and major roster overhauls since their disappointing performance at TI 2015, Fnatic seem to have found the right balance of youth and experience in their current lineup. The future looks bright for the team after a strong showing at the Shanghai Major, and this author hopes that the team can continue to find their groove and keep performing well into the year, and hopefully at The International 2016 as well.
Malaysia boleh!
First published in FMT’s new youth portal, www.TheLevel.my