by Waylon Galvez
Games Today (Gariath Concepts Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City)
3 p.m. – Suha-XCTN Punishers vs Bren Epro (best-of-three)
6 p.m. – Cignal Ultra Warriors vs PLDT-Smart Omega (best-of-three)
The Nationals seeks to replicate its first conference success when it holds its second conference Dota 2 today at the Gariath Concepts in Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City.
A top prize of P400,000 is on the line with defending champion Cignal Ultra Warriors going for back-to-back championships in this first-ever franchise-based tournament.
“The league’s first conference has been very successful, but The Nationals have bigger things in store,” said commissioner Ren Vitug in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Amelie Hotel in Manila.
“Hopefully, we can better show our vision this upcoming conference,” added Vitug.
Cignal leads the teams seeing action in the opening day as it takes on PLDT-Smart Omega. Despite finishing third in the previous conference, PLDT is one of the formidable teams.
The day’s other match is between first conference runner-up Suha-XCTN Punishers against Bren Epro, with the latter going in with a reformed roster. Not seeing action on opening day is Happy Feet Emperors, a team that also adjusted its roster in between conferences.
The league will follow the same format as the first conference, a double round-robin two-game series across all the teams. The three best teams after the group stage will advance into the playoffs, with the top performer being seeded into the grand finals.
It will also have a similar prize pool of P700,000, with P400,000 going to the winner, P200,000 to second placer, and P100,000 to third placer.
The Nationals is the country’s premier esports league, and the contested Dota 2 right now is just one of the three games that will be featured in the competition’s first year.
