In this week’s In Case You Missed It:
- Karsa leads Top Esports to the Mid-Season Cup championship
- Fnatic wins its fourth straight title
- Legendary AD carry Uzi retires at age 23
- And Flower Gaming and Execration qualify for the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League
Karsa leads Top Esports to the Mid-Season Cup championship
After four days of Mid-Season Cup action between the LPL and LCK’s top teams, LPL Spring runner-up, Top Esports, have emerged as the victors, winning the organization’s first-ever championship.
In the final, Top Esports faced off against reigning world champions, FunPlus Phoenix.
Top Esports got off to a quick start, winning game one, which was played in blind pick format as an homage to the early days of the LCK.
While the World Champs were able to even the series by taking game two, Top Esports bounced back and took games three and four off the back of some stellar play from jungler Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan, who had an incredible game three, with 100% kill participation in the first 15 minutes.
Fnatic wins its fourth straight title
Fnatic continues to reign over the SEA region, with a win at ESL One Birmingham 2020 Online: Southeast Asia.
This is Fnatic’s fourth straight tournament win, following victories at Dota Summit 12, ESL One Los Angeles 2020: Online Southeast Asia, and BTS Pro Series: Southeast Asia.
Fnatic defeated surging Indonesian squad, BOOM Esports, in the grand final with a comfortable 3-1 standing.
Mid laner, Kam “Moon” Boon Seng, was the MVP of the match, with a perfect 14/0/16 KDA to open game one, and some crucial pick offs in game four to close out the series.
Fnatic will now turn its attention to the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League, where they will try to make it five in a row.
Legendary AD carry Uzi retires at age 23
Former Royal Never Give Up bot laner, Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, has officially announced his retirement from professional play, aged just 23, citing serious health issues.
Uzi posted on his personal Weibo that due to obesity, an irregular diet, stress, and staying up late most nights, he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last year. While he tried to make changes for the last six months, his health has not improved.
He has also battled arm and back injuries for the past few years, which have curbed his ability as a professional player. In a Nike LPL documentary last September, he shared that “the doctor said my arms are 40 to 50 years old”.
The highlight of Uzi’s career was leading RNG to the Mid-Season Invitational championship in 2018.
Flower Gaming and Execration qualify for the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League
Malaysian team, Flower Gaming, and Filipino team, Execration, have booked their spots to the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League, winning their respective semifinals in the event’s first qualifier.
Flower Gaming locked up the first qualifier spot with a 2-1 win over PG.Barracx. The thrilling three-game series saw the Malaysian squad stage a late comeback win in game three on the back of excellent team fight execution.
Meanwhile, Execration easily defeated LGD.int, 2-0 in the second semifinal, out drafting and outperforming them in both games.
While all of Execration’s players performed well, it was Bhem “BHM” Garacia and Ralph “RR” Penano who were the team’s MVPs.
Both teams will now join Fnatic, TNC Predator, Geek Fam, BOOM Esports, Team Adroit, Reality Rift, T1, and one more qualifier team in the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League regular season, which kicks off on June 18.
