E-Sports makes debut

A total of 11 Filipino gamers will vie for the gold medal in the E-Sports competition of the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) scheduled September 17 to 27 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

There are 22 sports disciplines to be played but E-Sports will debut as a demonstration sport and the featured video games are Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void, Hearthstone, The King of Fighters XIV and Dota 2.

There will be five players for the Dota 2 competition, including two who were members of former world champion TMC, then two each for The King of Fighters XIV, Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void, and Hearthstone.

Dota 2, as described by Wikipedia, is a multiplayer online battle arena – MOBA –video game in which two teams of five players compete to destroy a large structure defended by the opposing team known as the "Ancient".

Hearthstone is similar to Starcraft with featured of cross-platform play allowing participants to compete with each other, while The King of Fighters is based on its original famous video game Street Fighter.

Jess “Jack” Tamboboy, a member of the E-Sports national team, said that there is a strong chance for them to get a podium finish since most of them have the experience playing in international tournaments.

“I think the five-man squad for the Dota 2 event has a very good chance because they went undefeated in the regional qualifiers – topping the Southeast Asian region event,” said the 25-year-old Tamboboy.

“Same thing with the Hearthstone where I will play. We also topped the qualifiers by going undefeated. So we have a good chance to bring honor for the country,” he added.

According to Tamboboy, competing in the E-Sport is similar to playing in other sports since it also requires physical and mental toughness.

The community of E-Sports, Tamboboy said, hopes to one day make the Olympics, and playing in the AIMAG – an event under the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) – is an opportunity for the players to show their skills.

“Lahat naman ng games kasali sa Olympics nag-start din sa ganito as demo sports,” Tamboboy said. “So may potential naman naman na mag-gold medal tayo dito kasi may skills tayo e.”

China, Tamboboy, is the team to beat in all four categories, since the Chinese athletes are used to competing in international tournaments.