ESGS 2014: Celebrating the best of Philippine e-Sports!

The E-Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS) 2014 was definitely one of the biggest celebrations of competitive gaming this year – bringing together the best of the Philippine e-Sports scene to battle it out in various leagues, including the Mineski Pro Gaming League (MPGL) Philippine finals and the Electronic Sports League (ESL) Philippines’ first-ever League of Legends (LoL) and Hearthstone tournaments!

Scores of competitive gamers descended upon the event last weekend, November 15-16, at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay, to test their skills and prove their might in Dota 2, League of Legends, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, Assault Fire, Dragon Nest, and various fighting games like Tekken and Ultimate Street Fighter 4. And, after two days of non-stop competitive gaming, the best players and teams in each game were crowned the MPGL, ESL, and ESGS tournament champions.

The plaques for the event’s victors. Photo by Yuri Mangahas.

MPGL: Philippine Dota 2 representatives to SEA Grand Finals determined

One of the most awaited tournaments at the event was the MPGL Philippine Finals, which determined the top two Philippine Dota 2 teams who will go head to head with other Southeast Asian teams for the prestigious MPGL SEA championship title and a prize pool of over P1 million.

After multiple heated battles between the country’s top four teams, it was the Cebu-based team Arcanys that took the top spot in the tournament – edging out Click n Search (CnS) to take home the P35,000 grand prize.

Cebu-based Arcanys bagging the championship at the DOTA 2 ESGS final. Photo by Chloe Cabrera.

Both teams also garnered slots in the MPGL SEA Grand Finals, which will happen this November 29 – 30 at the SM North EDSA Skydome, after beating the two other MPGL Philippines semifinalists, Olympus Gods and MSI-EvoGT.PP-tric, in their respective tournament brackets.

Other legs of the MPGL also held their grand finals and crowned their respective champions at the event, including those for the online shooter game Assault Fire, MMORPG Dragon Nest, and fighting game Ultimate Street Fighter 4.

MSi dominated the Dragon Nest finals with its two teams, MSi-EvoGT 1 and MSi-EvoGT 2, who bested four other teams to take home both the P35,000 first prize and P20,000 second prize, respectively.

In the MPGL Assault Fire finals, it was the team of TNC.Olongapo that took home the championship and P30,000 grand prize – pushing the league’s former champion team, Expendables, down to fourth place beneath the teams of Wargods and Zeus.

TNC.Olongapo gunning out the opposition for the Assault Fire final. Photo by Yuri Mangahas.

As for the MPGL Ultimate Street Fighter 4 finals, it was the player Don who emerged victorious despite the presence of big-time console players like Dru, Reden, and Etuts in the tournament. On the other hand, seasoned Tekken player AK bested four other opponents and emerged the champ of the event”s Tekken Tag Tournament 2 finals through his clever use of Lars and Miguel.

Kid wonder AK taking a break from the Tekken Tag 2 tourney. Photo from ESGS.

ESL Philippines concludes its first-ever Philippine Hearthstone and LoL championships

Another major league present at ESGS 2014 was the ESL Philippines Opening Series, which marked the international Electronic Sports League’s entry into the Philippine e-Sports scene. Throughout the year, the organization held monthly online tournaments for Hearthstone and League of Legends (LoL) to determine the top scoring players who would be seeded into their grand final events at ESGS.

ESL Philippines’ Hearthstone Grand Finals was a landmark event, crowning the first-ever champion for a major Hearthstone tournament in the country. The grand champion, Philip, bested seven other finalists –  including Staz and WaningMoon,  some of the local Hearthstone scene’s most well-known names to date – to take home the trophy and a P25,000 prize.

Hearstone champ Philip after the awarding segment. Photo by Chloe Cabrera.

Gamex.Wargods, on the other hand, brought their team name justice by claiming their rightful place as the champions and “gods” of ESL Philippines’ LoL Grand Finals after facing the Imperium Pro Team in the semifinals and Secret in the finals.

MPGL Class-G crowns the 2014 Queens of Philippine e-Sports

The country’s fierce female competitive gamers also strutted their stuff  at ESGS  by battling it out for the Mineski Pro Gaming League’s Girls Division championship titles for Dota 2, Dragon Nest, and Assault Fire. The Firevixens of MPGL Class-G’s Dota 2 division turned up the heat at the finals, snatching the championship win and P3,000 grand prize and pushing the team Extreme to second place.

MineskiTV’s Elaine De Goma and other spectators watching Firevixens duke it out with Team Extreme in the MPGL DOTA 2 female division clincher. Photo by Yuri Mangahas.

Meanwhile, Raging Dolls managed to finish on top with a clean 3-0 win against the only other team in the division, Team Crystal, in the MPGL Class-G Assault Fire finals. The team of Point Click Shoot (PCS) also secured their championship with a clean 5-0 record in the MPGL Class-G Dragon Nest finals – removing the team’s past “second place curse”!

ESGS StarCraft 2: Another championship for Pinoy Zerg favorite Enderr

Finally, despite this year’s small number of local StarCraft 2 tournaments, ESGS still included the famed RTS in its tournament roster. Attendees witnessed two of the local scene’s heavyweights, the Zerg player IPT.Enderr and Terran player MSI-EvoGT.Dane, go head to head in the ESGS StarCraft 2 grand finals – which saw Enderr add yet another StarCraft 2 championship title under his belt.

Starcraft 2 qualifiers. Photo by Yuri Mangahas.

All in all, ESGS 2014 put local e-sports and Filipino competitive gamers in the spotlight, allowing the local scene and its talented players greater recognition and a chance to showcase their passion and their skills to a much larger audience. In a country where online gaming is extremely popular, it’s safe to say that the local e-sports scene will continually grow and flourish over time. Luckily, ESGS is just one of many events that are helping make this promising scene come alive.

Did you witness any of these intense e-sports tournaments at ESGS? Share your ESGS experiences with us in the comments section below!