Bigger and bolder

THE highly-anticipated Dew Challenge, Amateur DoTA 2 E-sports Tournament is back for the third year.

This time around, organiser Mountain Dew has opened its doors to Singapore teams to participate, making it even bigger and bolder.

A total of 1,600 participants from 320 teams are taking part, 224 from Malaysia and 96 from Singapore. Each team consists of five players. Participants will need to battle it out on a state level to proceed to the finals.

Subsequently, the top 24 teams from Malaysia and 12 from Singapore will compete at the group stage level which will be held on Nov 25 at JCube cyber cafe in Orchard, Singapore and Dec 8 in INC (SS2) Cyber Cafe in Selangor.

Only the top four teams from both countries will proceed to the finals to battle it out for the championship title and the grand prize pool of S$50,000 (about RM156,000). It will be held from Dec 9-10 at Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur.

Over the years, the Dew Challenge has unlocked huge opportunities for winners such as Yeik Nai Zheng, also known as MidOne.

He became the second-best player in Europe and currently a member of Team Secret, an e-sports team based in Europe.

Similarly, last year’s winner Chong Jia Hao, also known as VT Faded, made it big in the e-sports scene after the tournament. He is now part of a China team called Nga Gaming.

Supporters and gaming enthusiasts can watch their favourite teams battle live on Mountain Dew’s Facebook.

For more information and updates of the tournament, go to Mountain Dew’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ MountainDewMalaysia/) and its microsite page (www.mountaindewdota2. com)