[MANILA MASTERS] Recap: Newbee hammers EG, secures finals slot

MANILA, Philippines – A proper display of Chinese Dota 2 discipline took the center stage at the Manila Masters upper bracket finals as team Newbee took down the North American Evil Geniuses (EG) 2 – 0.

Game 1:

Game 1 saw Newbee looking to exploit Sven’s newfound strength as they picked it up for Xu “Moogy” Han; this was backed by additional disables from supports Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi on the Sand King and Zeng “Faith” Hongda on the Crystal Maiden.

EG on the other hand went for the carry Razor on Artour “RTZ” Babaev, with the star mid laner Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan playing the Puck. Although it was clear that EG wanted to pick their opponents apart through Suma1lL’s early mobility, constant rotations from Kaka and Faith, soon joined Damien “kpii” Chok’s Enigma, ensured proper space for Moogy’s Sven to grow strong.  

After a solid early game, Moogy later joined up with the rest of his team and, alongside a farmed Queen of Pain on Song “Sccc” Chun, the Chinese squad proceeded to demolish their opponents little by little. 

While EG successfully scouted out an attempt at the Roshan objective by Newbee, Moogy was able to bait the initiation from EG enabling kpii to at least get 2 heroes in his Blackhole, with Sccc clearing thebacklines. Another fight later, Newbee went straight for EG’s throat. This was the moment the western powerhouse tapped out, giving the Chinese team a 1 – 0 advantage.

Game 2:

The second and final game of the series featured a similar approach from EG with the familiar Razor core on RTZ.  This was differentiated by them using Saahil “Universe” Arora’s famed Dark Seer paired by Ludwig “zai” Wahlberg’s Kunkka for a deadly ultimate ability combination.

In a repeat of game 1 however, constant rotations from Faith’s Crystal Maiden and Kaka’s Clockwerk ensured the early game space for Newbee. although this time, most of the farm went to Sccc’s Outworld Devourer as Moogy’s Juggernaut secured objectives. 

A questionable attempt by RTZ on the Aegis – perhaps to bait out Newbee – did not end well for EG as the Chinese team was able to hold out until they were able to retaliate with a combination of their own. With this, EG was forced to concede Game 2, dropping into the lower bracket finals where they get one last shot at the Manila Masters title.

The action continues tomorrow with two lower bracket matches:

• (10:30AM) Reunited ex-Cloud 9 Team NP vs. Chinese titan Invictus Gaming

• (2:05PM) Southeast Asia’s last hope Team Faceless vs. Four-time major champion OG

Should you want to catch the action live, be sure to tune in to the livestream at the times listed above. – Rappler.com