Last night marked the end of two Southeast Asian representatives in the Dreamleague Season 19. Execration and Talon Esports were unable to accrue enough points to secure their tickets to playoffs.
Execration went in the group A against some heavyweights. Despite the fact that they shocked everyone by winning the Dota Pro Circuit SEA 2023 Tour 1 few months ago, many viewers didn’t think they’d make it out of the group stage. The loss of coach Park “March” Tae-won has been speculated to have a negative effect on the team’s performance in international competition.
On their first two days, Execration suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Team Aster while drawing with TSM and Entity. Jinn “Palos” Lamatao’s choice to frequently experiment with draft picks was heavily criticized, but his strategies paid off when Execration ended day two with a smashing victory over the champions of DPC EEU Tour 2, ex-HellRaisers.
The victory over ex-HellRaisers was the moment that boosted their morale to go against the remaining big three: Shopify Rebellion, Gaimin Gladiators, and Evil Geniuses. Despite a devastating loss against Arteezy and friends, Execration managed to hold back Evil Geniuses and Gaimin Gladiators.
These outcomes lead to two tiebreakers. Unfortunately, despite having won the first tie-breaker against Team Aster, they were unable to stop TSM. Despite Palos impressive Morphling’s play, The TSM duo, Jonathan “Bryle” De Guia and Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon, killed off Execration’s aggressiveness and forced a win in the 40th minute. The defeat ended their hopes of qualifying from Group A.
Soaring no more?
Meanwhile, the new ruler of SEA, Talon Esports, failed to show up in group B. They were eliminated without winning a single game. Talon Esports was one of the pundits’ favorites in this competition due to their extraordinary achievements. They finished third in their first Major competition in Lima, Peru last month. A few weeks later, they won the DPC SEA Tour 2 with a clean sheet.
Playing in group B, Talon was expected to finish in top three along with Team Liquid and Tundra. But in the end, they failed to impose themselves as they did in the two previous competitions.
Instead, Talon was busy to catch-up in group B, which resulted in a string of draws. Surprisingly, they also suffered a devastating loss against Team Spirit, whom they defeated in Lima Major, and one of the worst teams in Europe, Nigma Galaxy.
On the final matchday, they ended with more draws against Nouns and OG. They finished in sixth place and were unable to advance to the playoffs. Fans were baffled by Talon players, Nuengnara “23” Teeramahanon and Rafli “Mikoto” Fathur Rahman, who seemed lost and failed to carry on their great forms since the Lima Major and DPC SEA Tour 2.
At the moment, Execration and Talon Esports are now preparing in boot camp somewhere in Germany for their upcoming major tournament, the Berlin Major, which will take place at the end of the month. With barely two weeks left, they need to learn from their recent downturn and come up with new strategies.
