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Dimapur, April 4 (EMN): China's Invictus Gaming (IG) defeated North America's Evil Geniuses (EG) in the grand finals to become the 2021 One Esports Singapore Major champions.
IG is China's top-ranked Dota 2 team and its roster is comprised of three Chinese players — Jin "flyfly" Zhiyi, Zhou "Emo" Yi and Hu "kaka" Liangzhi, and two Malaysian players — Thiay "JT-" Jun Wen and Chan "Oli" Chon Kien.
The 9-day long tournament ended in an exciting grand final where IG made an impressive comeback from 2-0 down to make it 3-2 and walk away with the 2021 One Esports Singapore Major trophy along with $200,000 in prize money and 500 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points.
What an great run for our #DPC2021 Season1! Starting from qualifier to upper division. Making it through to major playoffs as regional 1st.
— Invictus Gaming (@invgaming) April 4, 2021
And now the Champions of #SingaporeMajor!
Thank you for the support and believe in us! iG.Dota journey continues! It's all about believin' pic.twitter.com/nhDLTVXIss
Congratulations, @invgaming! ???????????? What an incredible comeback.#SingaporeMajor pic.twitter.com/0XpzM57VP5
— ONE Esports (@ONEEsports) April 4, 2021
The One Esports Singapore Major 2021 started on March 27 and the grand final was held on April 4 between Invictus Gaming and Evil Geniuses.
IG was knocked down to the lower brackets after losing to EG 2-0. They rallied back in the lower bracket playoffs defeating Thunder Predator, tournament favourites Team Secret and PSG LGD to book their place in the grand finals in a rematch against EG.
Game one of the grand finals saw IG dominating the map in the early stages. However, EG was able to turn the tables in the late game and was able to clutch out a victory in the game's dying moments.
Game two saw EG win a comfortable victory by shutting down IG's carry player Flyfly and his Faceless Void. The series seemed to be going in EG's favour and it looked like EG would take home the trophy with a comfortable 2-0 lead in a best of 5 format.
Game three saw IG take a comfortable lead in the early stages but EG came back to the game with a spectacular team fight to level the lead. It looked like EG would sweep the series from underneath IG's feet, however, IG rallied back with an impressive display from Flyfly and Emo. A series of overly aggressive plays from EG's Abed “Abed” Azel L. Yusop saw them give away a 15K gold lead to IG. The third game closed with IG's mid-laner Emo taunting EG in the all-chat with a "?" after a game-winning play. The simple taunt turned into a meme with teams, fans and organisers acknowledging the humour.
?#SingaporeMajor @invgaming pic.twitter.com/YMzyRTa9Tc
— ONE Esports (@ONEEsports) April 4, 2021
Game four saw IG dominate proceedings. They not only out drafted EG but also secured all three lanes with ease. EG's Arteezy went for a Divine Rapier for his Phantom Assasin to salvage the game, however, Emo’s Ember Spirit and Flyfly’s Troll Warlord became too much of a threat to contain for EG in the late stage and IG took game four to make it 2-2.
EG felt the pressure in game five and it showed in their frantic early game skirmishes. EG's team fight success depended on Daryl Koh "iceiceice" Pei Xiang’s Enigma initiating a perfect "Blackhole" ultimate to catch IG. However, IG's positioning was near immaculate during team fights with EG's iceiceice twice failing to catch IG with his ultimate.
The game-winning performance, however, came from Flyfly's Spectre who managed to not die the entire game and carried IG to a well-deserved victory. Despite a poor start in the early game, he managed to farm up and escape gank attempts from EG. Eventually, Flyfly's Spectre became too tanky to kill for EG despite iceiceice catching him with a near-perfect blackhole.