Oceanic Esports is looking to boost its region with a new Dota 2 league. The tournament organizer has announced its first effort in honing the talents from Oceania with the Oceanic Esports League, featuring up and coming teams from Australia and New Zealand.
Interestingly, the selected teams are not five-man stacks. Oceanic Esports gathered the top captains from the two countries and these captains will choose their teammates from an existing pool of aspiring pro players. The organization claims that this move will help grow the scene in the region.
The tournament boasts a $25,000 AUD prize pool, or approximately $16,000 USD. The first regular season will start on April 13 and last until May 30. The main event, an online league, will take place from June 1 to 6.
“We hope our efforts here will bring about a new era for of talent and competitiveness for Esports within Oceania and that it will bring much more opportunities for our athletes to compete against the best of the best across the globes,” Oceanic co-founder Justin “xMusiCa” Yuen said in the release.
xMusica is an Australian DotA veteran who started his esports journey in 2006. He believes that the Oceania region has lots of prospects with limited competitive opportunities.
Anathan “ana” Pham began his Dota 2 journey in Melbourne, Australia. He decided to move to Shanghai to pursue a professional career and joined CDEC’s in-house league in 2015. In 2016, he joined the newly rebuilt OG and won two major titles. Ana continued to dominate the scene after two consecutive wins at the biggest event of the year, The International.
He is now enjoying his annual hiatus and his return to the competitive scene is not guaranteed.
Meanwhile, Damien “kpii” Chok started his esports career in Oceania region as well. He claimed his first notable victory in the Defense of the Australian Spring 2014. Kpii then played with a number of notable teams, including MVP Phoenix, EHOME, Newbee, and Mineski.
He is currently playing for the SEA’s powerhouse team TNC Predator.
The success of Ana and Kpii might be attributed largely to their move to a different region, something that Oceanic Esports League would like to remedy. It’s high time that the spotlight is given to prodigies that are on par with Dota 2’s top pro players.
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