Countdown to ARCHCon

ARCHCon 2k11 (Anime RPG Comics Hobbies Convention) is just around the corner, here are the confirmed participants for the DotA tournament.

From the winners' bracket:

Team Barney

Named after the Purple Dinosaur
(which they like to consider PINK).

Team Barney is the Pride of the South. Currently the oldest surviving Cebu top team, Barney made its mark in current Cebu E-Sports history when they became the 2nd runner-up in Mineski Infinity's Opening Tournament.

Team NotSoSneaky

Named after the former Team Sneaky
(unofficially considered Latos 2).

Team NotSoSneaky is a team of GOLS TC pub players. Individual play with a bit of team chemistry, NSS made its mark in Cebu E-Sports history when 3 days after it was formed, it became the 2nd runner-up in Mineski Professional Gaming League Cebu 1-3.




From the losers' bracket:

 Pain Gaming

Formerly known as Rx.Spider.

Pain Gaming were a bunch of individuals playing at the South Side. They decided to team-up and venture on various bet games to improve their skills. Pain Gaming made its debut in the Cebu Gaming League Season 2 Opening Tournament, and they're planning to go further in the future.

Team Edu

Named after their old manager Eduardu or Edu (sig kaon manok).

 Team Edu was formed last year, out of the desire to experience team play rather than the usual pub gaming. All friends and living in the same area, Team Edu values loyalty and friendship as well as a goal to be one of the best teams in Cebu.



The bracket so far:



Other articles:
September
CGL Season 2 Introduction
CGL Season 2 Tournament Details
CGL Season 2 Opening Tournament Updates and Results
October:
MPGL Cebu Recap
MPGL Cebu 1 Champions Crowned
Getting Ready for ARCHCon2011
ArchCon Qualified Teams

ARCHCon Qualified Teams

After a little over 2 hours, the top 4, who will be playing in ARCHCon on October 29, 2011 have been decided.

Barney 
NotSoSneaky (formerly Tatangs Dream Team)

Edu

Pain Gaming (formerly Rx.Spider)

round 1:
Rx.Spider (W) vs. Edu (DQ) (no game)
KisDaGround (DQ) vs. Barney (no game)
Lacion (L) vs. NotSoSneaky (W)
Exe.kyut (W) vs. Maximillianus (DQ) (no game)

round 2:
Rx.Spider (DQ) vs. Barney (W) (no game)
NotSoSneaky (W) vs. Exe.kyut (L) (lost replay)
KisDaGround (DQ) vs. Edu (W) (no game)
Maximillianus (L) vs. Lacion (W)

round 3:
Exe.kyut (L) vs. Edu (W)
Rx.Spider (W) vs. Lacion (L)


Other articles:
September
CGL Season 2 Introduction
CGL Season 2 Tournament Details
CGL Season 2 Opening Tournament Updates and Results
October:
MPGL Cebu Recap
MPGL Cebu 1 Champions Crowned
Getting Ready for ARCHCon2011

Getting Ready for ARCHCon2011

As promised, only the teams that participated in the Cebu Gaming League opening will compete to qualify for the actual ARCHCon 2011 event.

The qualifiers will be on October 16, 2011 (Sunday) at 10:00 am.

The top 4 of this tournament will be playing in the actual event on October 29, 2011.


To the teams that want to change their team names, just approach me.

Registration for this tournament is free.

MPGL Cebu Champions Crowned

The Mineski Pro Gaming League Cebu Series has finally come to an end with former Latos players flooding the top 3, and Zeit Geist rewarded the free trip to Manila to participate the upcoming Pinoy Gaming Festival.

left to right: Sid, R2, Arsian, gb, Chibiby!

Champion: It's Pro Time (IPT)

ROSTER:
Michael "gb" Ross- hard carry
Chrisostomo "Chibiby!" Tan Jr.- carry/utility
Sidney "Sid" Ledesma- carry/utility
Jundell "Arsian" Navaja- main support
Rito "r2" Niere- secondary support

One of the two teams that emerged from the Latos disbandment. Ex-Latos players Arsian and Chibiby! decided to form the team a few weeks before MPGL Cebu 1-3. Michael Ross, a retired Mineski player joined in and took the role of captain. Sid and r2 both former Stigma players completed the roster.

Goal: To represent the Philippines.

Future appearances: Smackdown "the Mecca", Pinoy Gaming Festival

left to right: Ninja, Balot, Nivram, Shimaru, LeeVouge, Phoy

1st Runner-up: Zeit Geist (zG)

ROSTER:
(captain) Ron "balot" Losenara- semi-carry
(vice captain) Franz "ninja" Dela Torre- main support
(secretary) Marvin "nivram" Rushton- all-around
(PRO) Algen "shimaru" Escobia- branch support
(Muse) Jr " LeeVouge" Bersabal- carry utility

After MPGL Cebu 1-1, ninja, balot and nivram of team Latos decided to leave the team and form a new one with TNS players shimaru and LeeVouge. This move led to the disbandment of both teams and the creation of an all-star team-up of the best carries and supports in Cebu history.

Goal: To represent the East Coast.
Future appearances: Smackdown "the Mecca", Pinoy Gaming Festival

2nd Runner-up: NotSoSneaky (NSS)

left to right: Saak, Xof, Gravity, Hasii, PaeiJwei, D

ROSTER:
Lloyd "gravity17" Agas- carry/utility
Peter Pax Matthew "xof" Pacana- carry/utility
Don "D" Comaingking- carry/utility
Gama Rae "paeiJwei" Comaingking- support
Wilfred "hasii" Talamban- support
Chrys "SaakIsShit" Suico- support

A few days before MPGL Cebu 1-3, GOLS TC pub players decided to form a team for the tournament. The team name "NotSoSneaky" came from the fact that half of the team: D, paeiJwei and xof came from team Sneaky (which was previously unofficially known as Latos 2). The three remaining players, captain gravity17 (former Exellon), hasii and saak (both from Synchronized Gaming) completed the
roster.

Goal: To represent Cebu.

Future appearances: ARCHon DotA tournament

Unofficial computation of the final standing:
Zeit Geist (zG) - 65 pts. /+25
Exellon - 50 pts. / +10
It's Pro Time (iPT) - 38 pts. /+18
Barney - 32 pts. / +10
Stigma - 30 pts./ +12
NotSoSneaky (NSS)- 25 pts./ +15
Team Back Up (TBu)- 20 pts. /+8
Thumbs Down - 10 pts.
Point Click Kill (PCK)- 10 pts./+4
Fanboys (fB)- 8 pts.
Nemesis - 8 pts.

Good luck to all teams flying to Manila or wherever else they plan to in the succeeding weeks.

Mineski Professional Gaming League Cebu recap

Earlier this June, Mineski created a big opportunity for Cebuano gaming by opening a Mineski Infinity cyber cafe in Talamban. 

image courtesy of Mineski.net

This is just a little recap for those that have been living under a rock (or those that have just been aware of the Cebu DotA competitive scene).

The MIOT (Mineski Infinity Opening Tournament), held last June 25, 2011 was, by far, the biggest tournament in local history, gathering 72 teams all over Cebu (with the exception of Latos, the reigning Cebu DotA team back then).

The tournament had no registration fee, the top 3 teams received medals and Mineski gear; while the tournament champion received a free trip to Manila (along with Latos) to participate in the MPGL (Mineski Professional Gaming League) tournament the following month. After 2 days of grueling matches, Stigma was crowned champion.

Latos and Stigma players in MPGL 3-6 (Manila)

The following month, July, Stigma and Latos participated in MPGL 3-6. They played good games but unfortunately didn't make it to the Top 8. After MPGL 3-6, Mineski Infinity owner, Raymond Tambis, wanted local players to get exposure to Manila players and teams.

To those that don't know, Manila is not only the capital of the Philippines but also the capital and pioneer of Philippine E-Sports.

With the vision of improving provincial gaming in mind, Mineski implemented a series of tournaments in Cebu (that happened every second week of the succeeding months: August, September and October). But who knew this opened the doors to the most volatile and most surprising team swap/disbandment/player changes.

MPGL Cebu 1-1 (August 13-14, 2011) opened with Exellon as the surprising champion. Stigma, the team that drove Latos to the loser's bracket and eventually it's fall to the 4th spot, gained a lot of recognition in that tournament although they only came in second. TNS, the revival of a legendary Cebuano team, came in third.

A few days after the loss of Latos in MPGL Cebu 1, Latos members Ninja, Balot (also known as Kenorange) and Nivram announced that they were leaving Latos to form Zeit Geist (taking TNS points but disbanding the said team). But Latos and TNS weren't the only ones with roster changes, Exellon and Stigma (due to one reason or another, which would be too much of a hassle to discuss in detail) did too.

Because of the roster changes in the top teams, team Kabu was formed (with players that were formerly from Exellon, Stigma and Latos).

MPGL Cebu 1-2 (September 10-11, 2011) was by far the most scorching tournament. Grudge matches from teams with former teammates were all the rage. The shout casting was almost as emotional as the players themselves who formed some of the teams at the last minute. But the disbandment of Latos was not in vain, team Zeit Geist (champion) tied the top score with Exellon (previous champion). Stigma, unfortunately, didn't make it past the group stage and Kabu still managed to hold unto the 4th spot despite player problems.

1. Zeit Geist (TnS) - 40 pts. / + 25
2. Exellon - 40 pts. / + 15
3. Barney - 22 pts. / + 18
4. Kabu - 20 pts. / + 8
5. Stigma - 18 pts.
6. Team Back Up - 12 pts. / + 12
7. Thumbs Down - 10 pts. / + 10
8. Synchronized - 10 pts.
9. Nemesis - 8 pts.
10. Harss - 6 pts. / + 6
11. Point Click Kill - 6 pts.
12. DnMd - 4 pts. / + 4

MPGL Cebu 1-3 (October 8-9, 2011) is definitely a tournament to watch out for.

With the teams changing players again, how will they fair at this extremely competitive stage?

For live updates refer to this link.