Championship Sunday was in full swing at the Asia Pacific Predator League 2022 Grand Finals at Link Forest in Tokyo, Japan. With a Filipino team already assured of the win in Dota 2, ArkAngel Predator had to play above expectations to make waves in the PUBG side after a middle-of-the-pack showing in the first two days.
In the All-Filipino finals of Dota 2, it was a brawl between Polaris Esports and Execration. A risky Position 4 Leshrac by Marvin “Xavius” Rushton didn’t pay off too much in the early game despite picking up an early Aghanim’s Shard. Jinn “Palos” Lamatao’s Pudge was hitting all the strides in Game 1 in a masterclass performance. Game 2, the Pudge was again the hero, this time in the hands of John “Natsumi” Vargas. Alongside Mc “Lelouch” Villanueva and his Leshrac, Polaris snowballed itself in Game 2 to force a decider.
Game 3 promised to be a banger of a long game from the draft alone with Execration picking up Naga Siren while Medusa was the choice for Polaris Esports. But long game it was not, as Polaris managed to play a fast-tempo game with an unchecked Broodmother pick. Polaris convincingly took the championship against Execration to take home the $75,000 prize and the illustrious Predator Shield. Execration brings home $30,000 prize money after taking second place while GrindSky Esports, who finished third, has $15,000 in earnings.
For PUBG, ArkAngel Predator kicked off the day with a middle-of-the-pack performance in Map 11. The Filipino squad had to bring in its A-game from Map 12 onward for any chance of a podium finish against the fierce competition from around the region. ArkAngel’s safe approach allowed the team to secure some much-needed points as it finished strong with 11 kills in the map to move up in the standings.
ArkAngel Predator found its fire anew in Map 14 as the team managed to finish third in the crucial map which stabilized the team’s position at third overtaking Korean squad GNL. ArkAngel goes home after a hard fought campaign and will be bringing home $15,000 in prize money. In the end, it was still Vietnamese squad Genius Esports and its huge lead that took the championship and the $75,000 prize money while Korean team DWG KIA took second place and $30,000.
After the awarding ceremony, participating teams were honored and Intel MVP Awards were given to Attack All Around’s Escalucio and Yagon Galacticos’ ATee for PUBG and Dota 2 respectively. To cap the tournament off, Acer Philippines General Manager Sue Ong Lim, along with Predator Philippines brand ambassadors Alodia Gosiengfiao and Amara Ui, announced that the next Asia Pacific Predator League Grand Finals would take place in Manila, Philippines in 2024.