After a thrilling best of 5 series that went the entire distance, First Departure have come out ahead and take the top position in The Summit SEA Qualifiers, beating out Invasion and Team Malaysia.
First Departure, the perennial underdogs within the South East Asian scene, have claimed their first appearance at a major international LAN event with their victory over Invasion E-Sports. They did so with one of the most thrilling best-of-5s thus far, coming back from 0-2 down and eventually taking the victory in the long, drawn out series.
Their emphatic victory was crowned by the fact that they had taken out Team Malaysia earlier today, in the Loser's Bracket finals 2-1. Their exceptional play and dominance over the SEA powerhouse was evidenced by their earlier 2-0 victory over Team Malaysia as well that had sent them to the loser's bracket in the first place. More importantly, it highlights the synergy within First Departure now that they have returned to their original five players who had first made waves in the qualifiers for The International 2013.
With this victory, First Departure will be booking their flights to Los Angeles to attend The Summit's LAN finals in Los Angeles, and will be going up against 5 of the other top teams in the world. The LAN finals will take place at Beyond The Summit's casting house and studio from 3 - 7 December, and which currently features a prizepool of $284,000 and slowly increasing.
When contacted, their manager Bryan 'Jupi' Koay said this:
"I would really like to congratulate the team for doing so well. We were not even invited to The Summit's Qualifiers in the first place, and we started off 1-3, yet we perservered and climbed all the way to the top. From the loser's bracket to the Grand Finals, and eventually winning the qualifier, I'm not sure we can even believe we made it. We cannot guarantee how well we will do at the LAN finals, but it is our first international LAN and we will definitely give it our best shot. On behalf of my team, I wish to thank everyone of you who have supported us thus far!"
