The Mineski Pro Gaming League (MPGL) would not be a stranger to die-hard gamers. Launched as an exclusive coalition for Warcraft 3 DOTA in the Philippines back in 2010, it eventually became a recurring offline tournament open to Southeast Asia (including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines) and other countries in North Asia such as China and South Korea.
For the past years, Mineski has been inviting teams in other regions to take part in the MPGL Grand Finals, flying the qualifiers to the Philippines to compete with the top Filipino teams. This year for the seventh season, MPGL stepped up the game by holding the tournament in Malaysia at the Selangor Cybergames in a group stage format, with a prize pool of $50,000 at stake.
MPGL was not the only event that Selangor Cybergames hosted though. Held at The Strand Mall from 9 to 10 May, The Selangor Cybergames also featured F1 Racing Cup, Dot Arena and CS GO. The event was filled with gamers and supporters of the competing teams.
DOTA 2 cosplayers added more fun to the event.
Online qualifiers for MPGL Season 7 began in late March this year. A total of 11 teams advanced to the finals, with two teams each from Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, and one team each from Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and China.
It proved to be a tough battle for everyone as this was the first time the teams competed on LAN with the new DOTA 2 6.84 Gameplay Update, giving them only a few weeks to adjust to the new patch.
In the end, it was Team MVP.Hotsix from South Korea that bagged the Championship title and took home the grand prize of US$30,000, followed by Team EP of China in second place and Team Mineski of the Philippines in third.
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