As most of you probably know already, I joined the DoTA All-Stars 1 vs 1 Tournament over at BoyzTrek Jacinto (Davao City) yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, I lost. I will not give reasons and excuses for my loss… because reasons are for losers. Quote me on that please. I think, however, that my participation was not a lost cause because I learned a lot. For one, I learned that I need to practice more. Secondly, I learned that a lot of guys talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. Many gamers vowed and even promised they would join, that they would beat the unbeatable… but only 12 of us actually came and played. Here’s the list of Spartans who bravely gambled their PhP100 and their pride for glory and honor:
Jay “yajQt” Arabia of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
Rioren Padama of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
Chian “Boy Huskar” Coronel of Blinque Tech - Blinque / BoyzTrek
Jeztah Ching of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
Jericho “Liz7″ Oñate - Sequel Juan Luna
RJ Jose of Team PuSsy - Sequel Juan Luna
Yuki “Anak ng Tondo” Perez of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
` m A j aka “ang batang napataob sa anak ng Tondo” of General Santos City
Franco aka Cocoy of DC Clan - BoyzTrek
toRn
Paul aka Brother of Paxel of Darth Gamers
Jansen aka NajFreak aka StarCraft Boy of Darth Gamers

Here’s what transpired during the tournament and the other things I learned…

Round 1: Eliminations

VS
yajQt - Huskar the Sacred Warrior vs Rioren - Aiushtha the Enchantress
Winner: Rioren
The Game: Jay used Huskar because right before the tournament, he saw Chian use Huskar vs Ding Lao’s Pugna. He had a good strong game. In fact, I though he was going to win. So why did he lose? Because it was his first time to use Huskar and he didn’t have a good sense of Huskar’s skills. He didn’t even know the hotkeys yet. Despite these difficulties, Jay was able to adapt quickly, allowing him to put up a good fight against Rioren’s Enchantress. In the end, Jay’s unfamiliarity with his hero gave Rioren the edge to win over him.
The Lesson: Don’t gamble on a hero you are not very well-versed with.

VS
Chian - Huskar the Sacred Warrior vs Jeztah - Dazzle the Shadow Priest
Winner: Chian
The Game: Jeztah was very much aware that Chian had been practicing with Huskar, so he gambled on Dazzle thinking he could win the game if it lasted long enough for him to execute a plan. Unfortunately for him, their game was the shortest in the entire tournament. It lasted less than 9 minutes.
The Lesson: Again, do not gamble on a hero based on a theory you have on your mind.

VS
RJ - Ezalor the Keeper of the Light vs Liz7 - Viper the Netherdrake
Winner: Liz7
The Game: It was a fairly match game until RJ (me) lost focus. I was able to push early in the game. However, I had the wrong item build. And I wasn’t able to micromanage well. While my crow was buying some items, my tower got destroyed. I also lost focus due to the pressure of being watched by spectators. It was my first time in that situation. Though I loved the pressure, I wasn’t able tot handle it well. After Liz7 killed me twice and destroyed two of my towers, I declared the game as “GG.”
The Lessons: Focus. Concentrate. Play to win.

VS
Anak ng Tondo - Nevermore the Shadow Fiend vs ` m A j - Viper the Netherdrake
Winner: ` m A j
The Game: Early on, it was obvious that Yuki was the better player. He played aggressively. Everybody was expecting him to win the tournament. Yuki is… after all, Yuki. {Note to gamers not based in Davao City: Yuki is one of the most popular gamers in Davao City, and is touted as one of the best one on one players.} He was able to kill maj twice. After those two kills, Yuki became overconfident. Meanwhile, `maj aware of who he was up against remained unfazed by Yuki’s aggressiveness and overconfidence. `maj persisted to counter Yuki’s attacks and eventually ended up winning the game by killing Yuki a number of times and successfully destroying Yuki’s towers. Undoubtedly, it was the biggest upset of the tournament.
The Lessons: Do not be overconfident, no matter what. Never underestimate the enemy. Do not be intimidated by your opponent.

VS
Cocoy - Viper the Netherdrake vs tORn - Nevermore the Shadow Fiend
Winner: Cocoy
The Game: Among the tournament’s games, this was the only game I wasn’t able to watch. But from what I gather, Cocoy is a damn good farmer. He was more advanced than toRn in experience level and in item building.
The Lessons: Farm, farm, farm! Deny, deny, deny!

VS
Paul - Viper the Netherdrake vs NajFreak - Davion the Dragon Knight
Winner: Paul
The Game: While Jansen focused on harassing Paul, Paul persevered (VERY HARD) on creep killing and denying. Throughout the entire tournament, his creeping and denying skills were MIND-BLOWING. Isa siyang dakilang magsasaka! {He’s a great farmer!} And this gave him the very big advantage in terms of hero experience and item building. Consequently, he was able to destroy one of Jansen’s towers early in the game. This led to Jansen declaring the game as “GG.”
The Lessons: Again, farm, farm, farm! Deny, deny, deny!

Round 2: Semi-Finals

VS
Chian - Huskar the Sacred Warrior vs Rioren - Pugna the Oblivion
Winner: Chian
The Game: Chian was well-versed with Huskar, while Rioren struggled throughout the game. He had picked Pugna because he had seen Ding successfully use Pugna against Chian’s Huskar. Unfortunately, Rioren wasn’t able to duplicate Ding’s “ninja moves.”
The Lessons: Use a hero you are well-versed and have practiced extensively with.

VS
Paul - Aiushtha the Enchantress vs ` m A j - Aiushtha the Enchantress
Winner: Paul
The Game: The two players who won first round using Viper ended up battling each other both using Aiushtha the Enchantress. It was one of the more exciting games of the tournament. It was very interesting to watch the two Enchantresses throw Impetuses at each other. I thought that ` m A j was going to win the game. But well, apparently, Paul was the better player. Again, his farming skills didn’t disappoint.
The Lesson: Once more, with feelings… farm, farm, farm! Deny, deny, DENYYY!!!

VS
Cocoy - Nevermore the Shadow Fiend vs Liz7 - Anub’arak the Nerubian Assasin
Winner: Cocoy
The Game: Liz7 was able to harass Cocoy, but Cocoy remained focused on creep killing giving him the advantage in terms of item building. Liz7 kept his composure throughout the game, but Cocoy proved to be the better player probably due to his more extensive experience as a 1 vs 1 player.
The Lesson: Experience is the best teacher.

Round 3: Round Robin Championships

VS
Chian - Huskar the Sacred Warrior vs Paul - Viper the Netherdrake
Winner: Paul

VS
Paul - Huskar the Sacred Warrior vs Cocoy - Viper the Netherdrake
Winner: Cocoy

VS
Chian - Huskar the Sacred Warrior vs Cocoy - Viper the Netherdrake
Winner: Chian

The games: Chian was harassed and bullied early on by Paul’s Viper. And Chian was not able to recover. Meanwhile, it was a very close and exciting game between Paul and Cocoy, with Paul exhibiting mental toughness and challenging Cocoy’s farming skills. Although Paul came out as the better farmer, Cocoy was the better player. The third championship game was probably the most exhausting among the three. Both Cocoy and Chian were very careful and cautious throughout causing the game to be stretched out and last more than the other games. In the end, Chian came out the winner. The three ended up sharing the prize and the honor of being called as the three best 1 vs on DoTA All-Stars players in Davao City.

The lessons: Do not gamble when picking a hero. Farm. Deny. Persevere. Never underestimate. Practice, practice, practice.

Undeniably, the tournament was a big success despite the no show of many players who said they’d participate. Congratulations are in order to the three top 1 vs 1 players of Davao City! Congratulations to the brave souls who dared to join! Congratulations and many thanks to the hard-working marshalls Adi Santos and Ding Lao. And to the brains behind this tournament, Jeztah Ching, congratulations!!!

And to those who didn’t dare join, you don’t have a reason to complain, you don’t have credibility to brag. Opportunity for greatness presented itself and you didn’t grab it. There’s only one word to describe you: STUPID!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 3:29 am and is filed under DotA Allstars, Heroes, Items, Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.