Mineski.Infinity staves off elimination, advances to round 2 of The International

Posted on August 19th, 2011. Written by Rico.

This morning, Pinoy Dota 2 team ASUS Mineski Infinity Happyfeet triumphed in a must-win situation, eliminating opponents OK.Nirvana.cn from The International loser bracket playoffs.

The victory resulted from a stunning reversal, in a match that saw Mineski’s Chinese enemies establish a significant lead at one point. Nirvana attempted to push through the middle lane, only to realize that Mineski created a distraction that allowed the Philippine team to break through Chinese team’s top lane defenses.

Though Nirvana led in kills for the majority of the match, it was Mineski that scored the eventual win. They will next face Russian team M5 later this evening at 6:30 PM Philippine time.

Dota 2 (Defense of the Ancients 2) is the sequel of a popular multiplayer game. Similar to its predecessor, Dota 2 features two teams of hero characters controlled by human- or computer-controlled players. Both teams attempt to fight their way past their opponents’ defenses, and destroy the other team’s “ancient” located opposite theirs. Professional Dota matches involve teams of five human players each.

The International is a video gaming tournament that kicked off last Wednesday, August 17, 2011. It is the showcase event of Gamescom 2011, a convention currently running in Cologne, Germany. All games of the tournament are available for viewing via online video streaming. Mineski is the sole representative from the Philippines.

Dota 2 developer Valve software hopes that The International will increase interest in its new game, which is set for a 2012 release. Valve will furnish the $1 million prize for the champion.

Mineski’s recent win is the sole bright spot of its tournament record, which is at 1-3 as of this writing. The team lost all of its matches of The International’s preliminary group stage, and will be out of the running with just one more loss (two if the team reaches the loser’s bracket finals). A source familiar with the Dota scene remained skeptical about the Philippine team’s chances.

“It will remain an uphill battle for them,” said my source, who wished to remain anonymous because he was wary about the reactions his opinion would generate. “Even if [Mineski does] win against M5, the match after that will be against either EHOME (4-0), or MYM (2-1) or Scythe.sg (2-1).”