Manila Major: LGD Gaming dominate, Team Empire eliminated

LGD Gaming got Team Empire eliminated, 2:0, in the second round of the Manila Major Lower Brackets. Team Empire are the eighth team to be knocked out of contention in the main event. The CIS team will walk away with $45,000. LGD Gaming will face ViCi Gaming.Reborn in the third round of the Lower Brackets, on June 10th, at 11:20 CEST.

The second elimination series of the day was a clear dominant victory for LGD Gaming. The Chinese team showed that their patience, cautious play style and calculated moves would reign over aggressive approaches. Armed with an insanely powerful and skilled Lu “Maybe” Yao, the CIS team were helpless against him in both games.

Team Empire continues to show incredible performances and talent through their various LAN runs lately and have gained much respect from peers and fans alike.

LGD Gaming placed first in their group stage with a 4:1 record and took the upper bracket seeding. They dropped to the lower bracket in the first round, after being bested by Fnatic, 2:1.

Team Empire struggled a bit more in the group stage, ending with a 3:4 record in third place. They were seeded into the brutal best-of-one elimination series in the lower bracket. Upsetting and overpowering Team Secret, the CIS team then advanced into the lower bracket second round.

The Chinese team saw Team Empire eliminated and claimed their spot in the lower brackets round 3.

The Manila Major standings: Team Empire vs. LGD Gaming

In the first game of the series, it took a while for LGD Gaming to find their rhythm but prevailed in the end. Empire’s lineup was not as strong to be able to execute their strategy well enough against the Chinese team play-style. They play patiently and cautious, very different than the aggressive and chaotic Team Empire. LGD had great initiations, positioning and decisions for taking fights. Lu “Maybe” Yao had an incredible game on Dragon Knight with a 17:2:7 score. After 52 minutes they took the victory and the first game lead in the series.

© DotaBuff

The second match was all LGD’s. The Chinese team completely dominated the CIS team. From the laning stage until the end LGD was in control. A huge fight at the Roshan pit at 28 minutes followed by a team wipe on Empire was more than enough for LGD Gaming to seal the deal. With another phenomenal game by Maybe, this time on Ember Spirit, it is easy to point out the clear strength and power other teams will need to contend with moving on.

© DotaBuff

Manila Major standings: Team Empire 0:2 LGD Gaming. LGD Gaming advance in the Lower Brackets after seeing Team Empire eliminated.

Manila Major

The Manila Major – the third and final Major this season in advance of The International 2016 – is produced by PGL, with the main event scheduled to take place between June 7-12 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. Sixteen teams will compete over six days in a double elimination tournament.

Europe has six teams at the Manila Major, followed by China with four teams, the Americas and Southeast Asia with three representatives each.

Team Secret, Evil Geniuses, Wings Gaming, Mineski, compLexity Gaming, Alliance, Digital Chaos, and Team Empire have already been eliminated.