Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners: Team Empire goes to the Philippines

The Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners for the final day of the competition has been decided! Team Empire is the only regional team to qualify for the Manila Major in the Philippines, after overcoming Ad Finem,3:2, in the Manila Major Qualifiers EU Grand Finals.

Pack a spare keyboard Ramzes because Team Empire are going to a Major. Congrats. #ManilaMajor pic.twitter.com/dCZlODWTQg

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) May 6, 2016

Team Empire have emerged the Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners – the result they were definitely hoping for. The team had a rough start to the event, placing last in their group at the end of the first day. They struck back hard to climb the ranks on the second day of the group stage and ended in second place and advanced to the playoffs. Ad Finem had overpowered the CIS team and in a 2:0 sweep Team Empire ended up in the lower bracket elimination series. Besting both Vega Squadron and No Diggity 2:1, they rose once again to the upperbrackets Grand Finals. After five grueling and intense games they secured their spot in the Manila Major.

As Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners, the CIS team will join Team Secret, Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, MVP.Phoenix, Wings Gaming, ViCi Gaming Reborn, Fnatic, OG, compLexity, Na’vi, LGD Gaming, Alliance, Newbee (winner of Chinese Qualifiers), winner of the EU qualifiers and the winner of the NA qualifiers for the main event scheduled to take place between June 7-12th, at the Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines.

One from each of the regions will qualify to compete for the $3 million prize-pool.

Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners results

Manila Major Qualifiers EU Upper Bracket Finals

Ad Finem easily took the first game from No Diggity, after securing their lead early on. A fantastic game by Kharis “SkyLark” Zafeiriou on Beast Master and great synergy lead to their victory in just over 30 minutes. The second game started out in favor of No Diggity. Around 29 minutes in, a bad team fight would turn the tables and Ad Finem gained considerable momentum and advantage. Incredible clutch plays by Giorgos “SsaSpartan” Giannakopoulos on Bane and fantastic game by Dmitris “ThuG” Plivouris on Ember Spirit. Another turn of events would swing it all back in favor of No Diggity. The European mix’s victory tied things up and forced a deciding third game. The last game of the series showcased another fantastic game for SkyLark and a roaming bounty hunter that No Diggity didn’t seem to be able to counter. Shutting down Max “qojqva” Bröcker in midlane was key. The all Greek squad took the lead early and cruised to the victory into the Grand Finals.

Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners finals results:Ad Finem are the first team to advance to the Grand finals. No Diggity has dropped to the lower bracket finals.

Manila Major Qualifiers EU Lower Bracket Finals

Team Empire crushed No Diggity in the first game. No Diggity’s greedy lineup was stopped short by the Riki pick from Team Empire and the CIS team was able to take control and shut the European down immediately. Roman “Ramzes” Kushnarev had a perfect game on Anti Mage while Roman “Scandal” Sadotenkov had a fantastic game on puck. The second game was interrupted by power outage at the Team Empire house. With Empire in the lead, they were unable to sustain their momentum coming back in and No Diggity turned the tables on them, seizing the game, lead and the win. Their victory forced a deciding third game. Team Empire gave Ramzes his signature spectre and took the enigma pick from No Diggity. The Europeans early rotations from Mirana and Bane ended up being unsuccessful and harmful to the team’s success. Team Empire was able to then crush the European team and advance to the Grand Finals.

Manila Major Qualifiers EU Lower Bracket finals results: Team Empire advance to the Grand finals. No Diggity has been eliminated.

Manila Major Qualifiers EU Grand Finals

The first match of the series ultimately belonged to Team Empire. Although the laning phase and early game was under the CIS control, Ad Finem grabbed the lead during the mid game. Keeping the Bounty Hunter and Ember Spirit in check, Team Empire were able to regain their advantage and easily cruise to the first victor. After an even keel laning phase and early game, Ad Finem started to pull ahead. With Ramzes on his signature spectre once again and a roaming bounty hunter, Team Empire fought their way back into the game and eventually stole the control, tempo and lead in the game. The Greeks weren’t ready to give up and hung on tight, bringing the game back to an even level. After 75 minutes of intense action, Ad Finem sealed the deal for their win and evened out the series 1:1. The third game was given to Team Empire after a slight lead by Ad Finem in the early game. Shutting down Giorgos “SsaSpartan” Giannakopoulos on Earth Spirit and Ramzes Medusa were key factors for their quick success and taking the one game advantage. Once again the Greeks weren’t ready to give up and came through to force yet another game. In the fourth game about 12 mins in, Ad Finem seized their lead with fantastic games by Omar “Madara” Dabasas on Anti Mage and Dmitris “ThuG” Plivouris on Queen of Pain. They were able to hold on tight to their advantage and the momentum until the end and forced the fifth and final game. The last match to determine the winner and team to go to the Philippines next month was as intense as it should be with both teams fighting for their lives. In the end Team Empire’s lineup with Void, Batrider, Gyrocopter and Bounty Hunter would triumph and the CIS charged towards victory and Manila.

Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners: Grand Finals

• Team Empire lands the coveted spot for the Manila Major from the European region.

Manila Major Qualifiers EU winners: Winning team

Team Empire

Team Empire arrive in Philippines for ESL One Manila

Team Empire’s new roster is a complete overhaul with five new players. Only hours after being dissolved in the aftermath of the spring Major reshuffle, the squad was rebuilt.

Having qualified back in February with an entirely different lineup, the Russian team was able to retain their place at ESL One Manila and eventually take 3-4th place in the event. Since the change of roster, the team has taken third place in ProDota Cup EU #5 and 4th at WePlay LAN.

The team has been hedging on their new found structure to build them new heights and so far they have not fallen short of their goal.

Team Empire roster:

Roman “Ramzes” Kushnarev
Roman “Scandal” Sadotenkov
Vasily “AfterLife” Shishkin
Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov
Rinat “KingR” Abdullin

The Manila Major

The third Dota 2 Major will be held in Manila, Philippines, at the Mall of Asia – an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex, in Manila, Philippines. A rather new, state-of-the-art building, the arena has only been inaugurated in 2012 and has a seating capacity of 16,000 for sporting events, and a full house capacity of 20,000.

The total prize-pool of $3,000,000 is a fixed amount and PGL will be in charge of production.