MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Dota 2 team reached the championship round after defeating Vietnam in the upper bracket finals, 2-0, in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games esports competition on Sunday, December 8 at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The victory assured the Philippine Sibol team of at least a silver medal. 

The Filipino bets found themselves in a marathon Game 1 in their best-of-3 series that lasted more than 70 minutes, eventually outlasting Vietnam.

Game 2 was far shorter, with Vietnam never really threatening the Philippines at any point. 

The Philippine team may face one of the 3 contingents still in contention: Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

Vietnam automatically fell to the lower bracket finals after the loss to the Philippines where it awaits the winner of the Thailand-Laos semis. Of the 3, Vietnam remains the biggest threat according to Philippine Dota 2 player Marvin Rushton, also known by his in-game name Boomy. 

The Philippines also defeated Laos in their group stage matchup, 2-0, but has yet to face Thailand.

Thailand is notable for having two members from professional team Fnatic, which is among the top professional teams in the world right now. 

Mc Nicholson “Mac” Villanueva, John Anthony “Natsumi” Vargas, Jun “Bok” Kanehara, Marvin Salvador “Boomy” Rushton, Bryle Jacob “CML” Alvizo, Van Jerico “Van” Manalaysay, and James Erice “Erice” Guerra – the 7 players making up the Philippine Dota 2 team became the country’s second representative to a gold medal match following Caviar “EnDerr” Acampado of Starcraft II.

Players from Arena of Valor and Hearthstone have bowed out while the Mobile Legends team competes on Sunday, December 8 in a bid to make the grand finals. The Tekken 7 tournament, on the other hand, takes place on Tuesday, December 10. 

The best-of-5 grand finals take place on Monday, December 9 at 4 pm. – Rappler.com