Cignal wins inaugural The Nationals title

MANILA, Philippines – The Cignal Ultra Warriors delivered what was expected of them as the heavy favorites ruled the first-ever conference of The Nationals after beating the Suha-Execration Punishers in the Dota 2 best-of-five finals series 3-2 last Sunday, April 14, at the Gariath Concepts in Eastwood City, Libis.

Cignal entered the championship round as the favorites after it obtained an automatic berth with its league-best 13-3 record in the group stage of the first professional esports tournament.

Their skill was on full display after winning a convincing Game 1 in the finals.

Though the Punishers put their foot on the pedal as they racked up back-to-back wins, including a 27-minute stomp in Game 2, the Ultra Warriors stepped up and won the final two games of the conference with a strong push oriented lineup of Beastmaster, Pugna, Jakiro, Dazzle and Sven in the final game.

Prior to their finals showdown, the Punishers eliminated PLDT-Smart Omega in a best-of-three semifinal that also went the distance. Overall, Suha-Execration played a total of 8 games on the playoff day.

With the victory, the Warriors won the top prize money of P400,000 for the three-week tournament, while the Punishers and second runner-up Omega got P200,000 and P100,000, respectively.

Cignal’s Fernando “Nando” Mendoza was named Best Player of the finals series, finishing with an average of 9.4 kills, 6 assists, and 650 GPM per game.

The Nationals is the country’s premier esports league, and that the recently concluded Dota 2 conference is just one of the 6 conferences that will happen in the competition’s inaugural year.

The next Dota 2 conference will start on May 1, 2019.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Tekken 7, two of the country’s biggest games on mobile and console, will also host two conferences each later this year. – Rappler.com