If OG is the best team in the world for Dota 2, then the two teams that met each other at the Grand Finals of the Manila Masters Sunday were some of the most legitimate contenders to the throne.
Evil Geniuses bested Newbee in a grueling match 3-1, claiming the Masters title and grabbing an important LAN win en route to the invitation season for this year's The International.
Newbee, who have been perennial contenders for any title despite having not won any premier tournaments in the last few months, had a quick route to the final day as it dispatched every opponent in the upper bracket. The team dropped only one game to Team Secret in the opening of the tournament.
EG on the other hand, true to its moniker of the Lower Bracket Kings, fought through the surging Faceless and NP squads to earn its spot against the Chinese.
Game 1 was a quick domination for the North American organization; Newbee was caught off guard by EG's Drow strategy, backed by early game crowd control thanks to Crystal Maiden and Puck.
EG's ace midlaner, Syed Sumail "Suma1L" Hassan had a particularly stellar opener, ending the game with a 8/1/4 KDA on Outworld Devourer. EG closed out game 1 in 28 minutes.
Game 2 saw more life out of Newbee. The squad punished EG's rather greedy draft with multiple initiators. Xu "Moogy" Han on Ursa Warrior led Newbee in hunting down EG's backline as the whole Chinese team managed to overpower EG's push-oriented line-up. Despite a shaky start by Song "Sccc" Chun on Lina, Newbee managed to neutralize Artour "Rtz" Babaev's Lone Druid long enough to take the high ground in the 53 minute affair.
Game 3 was the site of an impressive turn around for EG. The team looked to drop the third game to after alarming early game lead by Newbee. In particular, Rtz's Razor was caught multiple times when Damien "kpii" Sau-jing Chok's Batrider prioritized him in ambushes. Newbee looked strong and about to close out the game before a turning point allowed EG to crawl back into the match.
Said Rtz in the post game press conference: "They killed me eleven times, but the turning point was in the twelfth time. For some reason they tried to go on [Ludwig "Zai" Wahlberg's Enchantress]. That allowed me to get a full [Static Link] off on Moogy. Everything else came together after that."
With momentum on its side, EG entered Game 4 with the advantage. But despite being one game away from victory, Newbee would not let up. Both teams played viciously, with neither side giving up Roshan pit control all game.
A particularly scrappy fight for the Aegis towards the 50 minute mark resulted in multiple buybacks from each side. In the end, Rtz's Bristleback and Suma1L's Ember Spirit routed the depleted forces of Newbee and they led the march into the base, forcing out the GG.
With the win, EG racks up another trophy on its way to EPICENTER in Moscow next weekend.