by in
The Indonesian women started this competition very well in the group stage by winning over all the other national teams in group A. Not a single team was able to shake them, and they secured an easy passage to the playoff stage as the first in the group. The Egyptian national team fought for the second place in the group, while Saudi Arabia managed to secure at least the lower bracket in the playoff phase. In Group B, the results were somewhat more even, and Ukraine and Cambodia had the same number of matches won and lost, but the Ukrainian women secured first place in the group by winning over the Cambodian national team. Nepal goes to the lower bracket from Group B.
The Indonesian team seemed to have no particular strategy. The girls played the most different heroes in the group stage and did not lose a game. The only thing that was certain was that the hero Gatokaca was taken as the most contested hero of the tournament every time he was not banned, and he was banned in more than 30% of the games.
The first match in the upper bracket was between Indonesia and Cambodia and here the Indonesian national team showed the same combination of heroes for the first time 2 games in a row. It is a combination of Khaled and Hayabusa. It could be said that the Indonesian women prepared this strategy for the most difficult opponents, because the Kabodža national team was cleaned in both games in just 24 minutes. This takes them into the upper bracket final where a win would mean direct passage to the grand final.
The second match of the upper bracket took place between the national teams of Ukraine and Egypt. In these games, the Ukrainians tried to hide their best pick and chose 2 completely different heroes through 10 games, which was a treat for the Egyptian Edith-Suyou combination. Both games lasted 18 minutes and were in complete control of the Egyptian national team. The Egyptian women are, therefore, the opponent of the Indonesian women in the final of the upper bracket.
When it comes to the lower bracket, teams from Nepal and Saudi Arabia are there from the start, and the losers from the upper bracket have to compete against the third-placed teams from both groups. The first match of the lower bracket was played by the national teams of Ukraine and Nepal. Here, Ukraine realized that they have to do their best to survive in the tournament because the lower bracket is ruthless. They discovered their key hero Bruno, who was outstanding in both games, and in the second game they managed to secure Gatokaca and dismantled the Nepal national team in 24 minutes.
The next game of the lower bracket was played by the teams of Cambodia and Saudi Arabia. This was a duel to remember. The first match that went to the end and in which the game was very even. Each game lasted 15 minutes, and the first one was won by the Saudi Arabian national team thanks to the extraordinary game of Phoevus. The second party, on the other hand, prevailed in Cambodia's favor as the opponent rushed to grab Gatokaca while ignoring their key hero Phoevus. In the last game of the match, the Saudi Arabian team returned to their Phoevus, but this time they forgot to ban Gatokac, who led the Cambodian team to the semi-finals of the lower bracket.
Before the semifinals of the lower bracket, the first finalist of the tournament must be known, and the final of the upper bracket between Indonesia and Egypt is next. Egypt reached this part of the tournament thanks to their Edith-Suyou combination as the Indonesian women recognized and banned the hero Suyou all 3 games leaving the Egyptians to patch holes in their strategy. In the first game, the outstanding play of Cecilion secured the victory for the Egyptian team and took them one step closer to the grand final. However, in the second and third games, the Indonesian team takes Hylos and combines him with the previously unseen Chou hero. This combination proved to be invincible and led the Indonesian women to the grand final.
In the semifinals of the lower bracket, the Cambodian team played against the Ukrainian women, who had no answer to their aggression. In the first game, the Ukrainians forget to ban Gatokaca and lose the game in less than 13 minutes, while in the second match, the Cambodians, with the help of Edith and Vexana, pass through their opponents and advance to the finals of the lower bracket, where the Egyptian national team awaits them patiently.
Can Egypt secure revenge against the Indonesian team with a victory, or has the Cambodian national team decided to get a second chance against the national team that threw them into the bottom bracket? It seems that the Cambodian women learned from the first finalist and they themselves banned the hero Suyou for all 3 games against Egypt. However, the first game goes in favor of Egypt after only 8 minutes of play. Despite Gatokaca's pick, the Cambodian national team chose Frank as their last hero, who turned out to be completely useless. The second game was much more interesting and lasted a full 23 minutes. The Egyptian team again took Alpha and Edith, who led them to victory in the first game, but choosing Tigrael instead of Frank proved to be a brilliant strategic move, and now the score is 1-1. The decisive game of the final of the lower bracket began with the selection of Terizla, a hero who had not been seen until this part of the tournament. It is a brave move by the Cambodian national team, which with the help of Terizla managed to defeat Egypt's strongest pick so far. (Cici, Alpha, Valentina, Wanwan, Gatokaca). Sindi Sisvato known to gamers as "Cinny" excelled all 3 games on her mid Aurora and led the Cambodian team to the grand final!
Now follows the rematch of these two teams who met as the first match of the playoffs, but, let's remember, the Indonesian women very easily defeated the Cambodian team then. It seems that they had their number in the grand final as well, and in both games the Indonesian women again chose the hero Khaleed with which they disfigured the opponent for the first time. This time Khaleed was also helped by Hylos, who greatly accelerated the pace of the game and completely stopped Cambodia's strategy. Note that Team Cambodia managed to grab the infamous Gatokaca both games and gave their mid laner her signature Aurora again. Simply, these are heroes who need time to reach their full potential, and the Indonesian women did not allow them to do so with their fast and very efficient game.
This brings the Indonesian national team a gold medal and $50,000, while the second-placed Cambodia national team takes twice the amount.
As the loser of the lower bracket final, Egypt wins the bronze medal and $15,000. Ukrainian women took home $10,000, while teams from Nepal and Saudi Arabia took home $7,500 each.
Uzbekistan and Argentina, as the seventh and eighth placed teams, secured $2.500 each, while the last 4 teams go home empty-handed.
The MVP of the tournament is Viorela "Vival" Chen from the Indonesian team.
