The School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) Tigers hunted down their last opponent, the Accountancy (ACC) Griffins, in the final round of the Dota 2 tournament streamed yesterday via Facebook Live. Reigning as champions for the Dota 2 match series, the SEA Tigers emerged undefeated in the Palarong Atenista 2021.

Both teams showed their competitiveness very early in the game, picking what players call “greedy” heroes, but the SEA showed a little bit more when their Puck got the very first kill for the game. 

Not long after that, the ACC Griffins’ Medusa got the team’s first kill. With both teams showing their grits, the early game was a bit of a struggle. No one backed down and both teams pushed each other to a corner seeing if anyone would crack, leaving the scores tied between the two teams.

A few minutes later, the SEA Tigers got their revenge and slayed the enemy team’s Medusa by cornering her when her mana was running low. Along with that, the SEA Tiger’s Puck bagged another kill for the team. The gears were turning for the SEA Tigers, and they were slowly but surely making the enemy team feel their dominance in the game. 

Five minutes in and the score favored the SEA Tigers, 1-3 (ACC-SEA). Not a few minutes later, the SEA had already bagged a few more kills, widening the gap and taking them further in the lead. 

Even though they were struggling, the Griffins did not back down. With the Tiger’s attempt to kill the Griffin’s Meepo, the Griffin’s Tiny was quick to act, securing the kill.

As the Griffins bagged the kill, the Tigers retaliated by securing two more kills. With scores 2-7 (ACC-SEA), the SEA Tigers refused to close the gap. 

Further, along with the match, the ACC Griffins struggled to close the gap and get ahead against the SEA Tigers. Eleven minutes in, the SEA Tigers were the first to get two-digit kills, with the score 2-10 (ACC-SEA). 

Fifteen minutes in, and a clash between the two teams occurred in the mid lane, the Tigers pushed the enemy team into a corner, trapping their Meepo, Woodwink, and Medusa, securing three kills for the Tigers.

With a score of 3-18 (ACC-SEA), the Tigers were dominating over the Griffins. Although the Tiger’s Puck was not satisfied, even though his teammates had already left, he still went in and bagged a kill. With their desire to win, the SEA Tigers made it clear who has control. 

Later, another clash occurred, and the Tigers once again massacred the enemy team. Leaving them with a score of 7-24 (ACC-SEA) and making the Tigers be the first to go beyond 20 points before the 20-minute mark. 

A few minutes later, the team went into another clash in the bot lane. But this time, the favor was leaning into the ACC Griffins. Although, even with their efforts, the Griffins only managed to kill and made the enemy team retreat. But the Tigers were quick to back up their teammates. With their Puck taking the lead and Tusk backing him up, the Tigers got two more kills. 

By minute 23, the Griffins finally reached their two-digit points mark, but even though they got a few kills in, the Tigers had already gone 30 points, widening the gap more, leaving no space for the Griffins to close it. 

After a while, the Tigers attempted to defeat the Roshan, which would give them a considerable boost. But, they ultimately got distracted when the enemy team tried to attack them while attacking Roshan. Although the Tigers were unsuccessful, they still managed to get two kills against the Griffins. They went back to make another attempt to defeat Roshan, this time finally overcoming the monster.

As the Tigers controlled the map, their towers remained untouched; victory was clear for the Tigers. And in their final clash near Griffins’ well, the Tigers continuously pressured the enemy team and made a few kills. With the final score of 13-41 (ACC-SEA), the Tigers were hailed victors of the first game.

Moving on to the second game, many technical difficulties occurred, which made it a challenge for the Griffins to play correctly. With their Wyvern lagging a lot, the game has progressed slowly. 

Team sportsmanship was shown early in the game and it grabbed the attention and applause of many when the Tiger’s Invoker paused the game for the enemy team’s Winter Wyvern due to connectivity issues. 

Less than 5 minutes in, the SEA Tigers already took the lead with a 0-2 (ACC-SEA) score. The Griffins were struggling to get some kills due to the lag, which made their Wyvern disconnect, and when he got back, he was still struggling to play properly. 

Even with the lag, the Accountancy Griffins held their ground and fought their way to close the gap. Standing on 2-4 (ACC-SEA) on minute five, the Griffins were fighting with everything they had.

By minute ten, the Tigers have already widened the gap with the score of 5-14 (ACC-SEA); by continuously putting pressure on the enemy team, the Tigers claimed dominance early in the game. 

Although faced with technical difficulties during the game, the Tigers still managed to win the championship and bring home the gold. The fast-paced second game led to their victory, with the final score of 18-40 (ACC-SEA) successfully defending their title as kings of DOTA 2. 

Roaring their way to victory

Behind all this success, Keannu Del Rosario, SEA Tigers’ Team Captain, shared that as engineering students, it was difficult for them to balance their time from gaming to academics. 

However, Del Rosario emphasized how they tried their best to manage their time and enjoy the game and, in the end, succeed as a group.

Del Rosario, who played Terrorblade, recalled that throughout the whole tournament, they enjoyed the game as a team and were coordinating well as a group.

“Through the value of teamwork, we are able to coordinate our skills well, and we are able to excel in this criterion. Oftentimes, we just enjoy the game and talk about our mistakes and do better as a team,” he said.

When asked how he motivated the team, the SEA team captain shared that he has been telling his teammates to cheer up when they have committed small mistakes throughout the game and told them to learn from them.

As he shared his experience as the team captain, Del Rosario felt honored to have such excellent teammates because he could not have succeeded without them.

He also added that they would not have made it without the everlasting support of the SEA committee.