posted by guardiangel07,
Many compendium holders had predicted that ph Rave* would win the SEA qualifiers, but they will be disappointed. Not only did Rave not secure a direct placement in the main event at Seattle, they were eliminated from the qualifiers without even securing the wildcard spot. Read on to find out what happened.

One more chance at redemption



Rave - the last Filipino hope. Image courtesy of mineski.com


Day 4 of the TI5 SEA Qualifiers began with the Lower Bracket Finals which witnessed Rave taking on long-time rivals kr MVP Phoenix* in a bo3 elimination match. They have met a total of 23 times, Rave winning 8 of them and Phoenix 13. In the most recent 6 encounters however, Rave won 4 and lost only 1 match.

Rave and Phoenix Previous Encounters
The Summit 3 SEA qualifier Grand Finals witnessed a spectacular showdown between these two teams that showed Rave's superiority. With that amazing comeback still at the back of our minds, they came to the TI5 SEA qualifiers being the hot favourite over Phoenix.

The two teams first met at the groupstage; although Phoenix seemed to have the upper hand, the series ended with a 1-1 draw. They met again in the bo1 tiebreaker for the group's number one spot. This tie Rave lost to their rivals and were relegated to the Lower Bracket. Read our Day 3 recap here.

Rave won the Lower Bracket match against countrymen ph TNC Predator and gave themselves a shot at exacting revenge. Being the last Filipino hope, Rave brought their A-game with the goal to once again prove themselves as the superior team. To their disappointment however, their A-game was insufficient to carry them to victory.

MVP Phoenix had a great understanding of their captain's plan and executed it to perfection. The Queen of Pain, who was picked in both rounds, had two different item builds which synchronised very well with the other heroes. The team performed like clockwork. They even managed to thwart ph Djardel 'DJ' Mampusti's signature Tiny, with which Rave had previously crushed th Motivade.Trust Gaming. The last Filipino hope had to raise the white flag, giving us an all-MVP Grand Finals.

Sister teams fight for prominence



Phoenix and Hot6ix Previous Encounters
Just like Rave, kr MVP HOT6* too had their fair share of encounters with Phoenix. The past 6 encounters resulted in Phoenix winning 4 and Hot6ix winning only 1 of the encounters.

The question on everyone's mind was whether the 1 win meant anything. Was it a one-off lucky occurrence, or had Hot6ix truly surpassed their sister team?

Both teams came into the qualifiers being placed in separate groups. Despite starting off shaky, Hot6ix managed to emerge the leader of the group and went on to the Upper Bracket finals. There they met Phoenix. After a nail-biting 3 rounds, Hot6ix won their spot in the Grand Finals 2-1. You can read more about the first Hot6ix/Phoenix matchup here.

The sister teams met again at the Grand Finals. At stake was the coveted direct invite to the International. It was the fight of their lives. After being crushed 2-0 at The Summit 3 SEA Qualifiers, the question remained the same - did Hot6ix really have what it takes to defeat Phoenix, or would they be crushed once again?

A convincing victory



MVP.Hot6 - The Winners of TI5 SEA Qualifiers. Image courtesy of dota.2p.com


To the surprise and joy of many, Hot6ix managed to take Game 1 with ease. The whole team often rotated around the map, constantly picking off enemy heroes on the back of a roaming fi Jesse 'JerAx' Vainikka Bounty Hunter. He racked up an impressive 580 gpm and Phoenix was forced into a 15min GG call.

Game 2 was not as easy as the first as a Pugna was picked to counter Hot6ix's draft. Phoenix focused on teamfight heroes. kr Soung-Gon 'Heen' Lee responded to that by last-picking an offlane Omniknight. To everyone's worry, the Omniknight laned against Slardar and Disruptor. But this was no matter for kr Lee 'SunBhie' Jeongjae as he easily won the lane, even picking up a few kills along the way. The Omniknight strat worked and Hot6ix secured Game 2.

The sure-win strat



Now MVP Phoenix were only one game from elimination. They had to do something to throw Hot6ix off balance, and what better strategy than one that is tried and tested? kr Tae Won 'March' Park drafted the Sven-Witch Doctor-Dark Seer combo that won them the tiebreaker against Rave. Knowing how a farmed Sven destroyed Rave, Hot6ix opted for a fast-push strat, drafting Leshrac, Broodmother, and Invoker.

In the early to mid game, Hot6ix was leading the kill charts, finding pickoffs with their constant rotations. But they made the same fatal error as Rave had before - they failed to control Sven's farm. Oftentimes Sven could be seen free farming, missing most of the teamfights in favor of his GPM. By the time Hot6ix wanted to push for the win, they were faced with a Sven who tore them apart and won the game. The scales now seemed to be tilting back to Phoenix's favour.

Leshrac-Weaver Combo



A new signature combo?
Riding on their success, viewers were treated to seeing March pick up his signature hero, the Warlock. Hot6ix unrelentingly drafted a unique line up - they once again relied on the offlane Omniknight.

This time, the Omniknight was zoned out by the Warlock. Phoenix seemed to have the upper hand, hauling in kill after kill for a heavy lead on scoreboard. As the game continued, it appeared as if the game would be forced to a final 5th game.

It was not until the 20min fight at the Radiant Tier 1 mid tower that Hot6ix started managed to get back into the game. As MVP.Phoenix sought to kill the Pugna who was hiding on the sidelines, they went out of position. It resulted in them losing 4 heroes, a dominating streak for kr Pyo 'MP' Noa's Leshrac, and a Mega Kill streak for the Shadow Demon played by JerAx.

It was a point of no return. The Leshrac was dishing out tons of damage and the Weaver cleaned up after him. Even Warlock's Aghanims Golems melted in seconds. 35min into the game, Phoenix surrendered. Hot6ix secured their direct spot at the main event whereas Phoenix will have to fight for their spot in the Wildcard matches.



Did your predictions survive the MVP takeover?



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