Somnus takes home MVP award and Mercedes-Benz car

Nina Forneloza Published 21/06/2020

ESL has given Lu “Somnus” Yao the Mercedes-Benz MVP for ESL One Birmingham Online 2020.

Somnus became the first Chinese player to earn the ESL One MVP award, a prize that stands out from the crowd by coming alongside a brand new Mercedes-Benz car. Somnus earned the prize for his efforts helping PSG.LGD claim the championship title in the Chinese portion of the event.

This event’s MVP award is a little different from those of previous ESL One tournaments. Regional online leagues are the new normal, which has seen ESL tweaking the rules by selecting an MVP contender for each region. The four finalists then entered the second phase of voting to determine the MVP award winner. The winner was determined by both a fan vote and a polling of Dota 2 experts.

It’s no surprise that Clement “Puppey” Ivanov was chosen as a contender for Europe. He has played a huge role in the success and consistency of Team Secret over the last several months. As the team’s captain, he helped the team both on the map and in the draft. This could have been his second ESL MVP award.

Finalist Rodrigo “Lelis” Santos from South America came in as a surprise. Quincy Crew and CR4ZY bested North America’s powerhouse Evil Geniuses to claim the grand finals spots. Quincy Crew bested CR4ZY in a clean 3-0 fashion. Lelis was acknowledged for his stellar performance as the team’s offlaner.

In the Southeast Asia region, Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong emerged as the MVP contender. FNATIC continued to cruise. As a support player and captain, he has called the right shots in crucial moments to earn his team a slew of tournament wins.

Somnus was the MVP contender from the China region. His skills in the mid lane played a key role in the team’s success in the region. PSG.LGD defeated Chinese giant Invictus Gaming in the grand finals series. The huge success of PSG.LGD gave Somnus a spotlight to own the brand new car.

After a week of voting, Somnus was rewarded the MVP title and a Mercedes-Benz car.

ESL awards 10th Mercedes-Benz car to Dota 2 players

Somnus joins a list of Dota 2’s top stars in earning a Mercedes-Benz MVP Award. The MVP award became one of the most coveted trophies in the Dota 2 scene after ESL’s huge partnership deal with Mercedes Benz. Since 2017, MVP winners from ESL tournaments are entitled to a brand new car from the manufacturer.

Before Somnus, Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko was the last MVP awardee. He claimed his second MVP title and Mercedes-Benz car after Virtus.pro won ESL One Los Angeles Online. He is the only player who won this award twice.

Three players from Team Secret and Virtus.Pro have claimed the MVP awards already. Notable MVP players are Puppey, Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng, Park “March” Tae-won, and Alexey “Solo” Berezin.

Nina Forneloza

About Nina Forneloza

Nina Forneloza is a huge fan of gaming, but her favorite genres of games above all other are gacha games, first-person shooting games, and role-playing games. When she isn’t looking for a lucky pull in the latest gacha, you’re likely to find her in a competitive Valorant lobby or playing the latest big single-player RPG. Either way, you can be assured that she’ll be into it and ready to write about the experience.

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