esports
Mineski’s manager gives us her thoughts on what this event means for them and Philippine eSports.
ESL One Manila felt like a godsend to Pinoy Dota fans. In the five years since the game’s release, not once has an international tournament of this size and scale been held in the Philippines, a country with one of the largest player bases in the world. As soon as tickets went up for sale, every seat in the house was sold within the same day, illustrating the Pinoys’ excitement and almost ravenous hunger to see their favorite teams fly in and compete for the trophy and more than $200,000 in prize money.
In the middle of it all was a team that is familiar to the Dota 2 community the world over: Mineski. The unofficial Team Philippines of Dota felt the same thrill the fans did upon learning of ESL One Manila, and rightfully so. “We felt like this was our big chance to show the Philippines, and the world what Mineski-Dota is capable of,” said the team. “We felt like the hard work we’ve been putting in all these years was finally starting to pay off big time.”
On top of being the host country’s sole representative in the eight-team event, Mineski was competing with a player lineup that was barely a month old. But for them, this event meant much more than simple cash and fame.
In a recent interview with Red Bull prior to the tournament, Mineski team manager Marie France “Yamyam” Hernandez expressed her thoughts about what was on the line for them at ESL One Manila. “We normally don’t feel extreme pressure to perform in tournaments outside of the country. But now that our country is hosting the event for international teams, we feel like we really have to win—not only for the money and the title, but also for the Filipino fans.”
Filipinos are, of course, Mineski’s greatest supporters, but they are also their worst critics. Hernandez mentioned a sort of duality present in Filipino Dota 2 fans: there are the loving and supportive “Pinoys”, and their highly vocal and scathing counterparts the “Peenoise”—a term coined by the Southeast Asian Dota community to refer to Filipino players who constantly talk trash online. “We definitely expect our countrymen to back us up when we finally get to play on the main stage at the Mall of Asia Arena, but at the same time we’re concerned about what they tend to become when the players make mistakes or lose games,” she says. “It’s like one minute they’re cheering for you, then the next they’re calling you an embarrassment to the nation. It’s disheartening for sure, but as a team you just have to learn to shrug off the hate and move on in a positive light.”
She also hopes that this tournament will be the first of many in the Philippines to show the average Filipino that eSports is real and here to stay. “Growing up as your average Pinoy kid, gaming as a hobby was not widely accepted by our parents and older relatives. It’s always been seen as a waste of time and money here.” Referring to some Dota 2-related violence that occurred in the country a few years ago, she added, “Sometimes the media paints an even worse picture by focusing on gaming-related incidents rather than the positive side of things such as ESL One Manila. People tend to read too far into these incidents and think that the game itself makes people go crazy. If they could look past these things and put the spotlight on the good that eSports brings, we might see our elders finally accept what we love to do.”
Perhaps what illustrates the struggle of being a pro gamer in the Philippines the most is the relatively low payouts of local tournaments compared to their international counterparts. For instance, the seventh season of the Mineski Pro Gaming League last year had a mere ₱124,000 (Philippine pesos) in its prize pool, which is roughly equivalent to $2,600. This prize pool was split between the Class A and Class S divisions, the latter of which Mineski took first place in. They won a total of ₱83,500 or around $1,800 for their efforts. Compare this to an international LAN such as the recently-concluded StarLadder i-League Invitational—which had a prize pool of $100,000—and it becomes clear how difficult it is to sustain a career in Dota 2 in the Philippines as a full-time job. Only now has a tournament with a significantly larger prize pool been held on Philippine soil, thanks to ESL.
Hernandez expressed further optimism that things will change for the better soon. For one, the entire Mineski organization signed a sponsorship deal with local television network TV5 last year. The same network also broadcast ESL One Manila on their sports channel, indicating a quickly growing interest in eSports by local corporations. “The prospect of these big TV networks and companies getting in on the eSports trend makes us happy, of course. With more attention being placed on what we do, the more reasons we’ll have to keep going. The money will just come in naturally from there. But for now, we’ll take it one small step at a time,” she said.
Unfortunately, Mineski did not get far at the tournament, losing to CompLexity Gaming, who defeated them convincingly in three maps. Regardless of the results they posted, Hernandez and the rest of Mineski are optimistic for the team’s future. “I know they’ll say ‘we’ve heard that before’, but to our fans, we can only say we’ll do better next time. Mineski will continue to fight and represent the Philippines wherever and whenever we can. All we ask for is your love and support.”
From here, only time will tell if the Philippine eSports scene will flourish as a result of ESL One and eventually the Manila Major. If anything, Pinoy fans have lots to look forward to now that they know Dota 2 publisher Valve has noticed their passion. Should all go well at the upcoming Major, increased interest and viewership will follow, and so will more lucrative local tournaments. Complete cultural acceptance of professional gaming in the Philippines may be a long way away, but the pieces are certainly starting to fall into place. Until then, Mineski and the rest of the Pinoy Dota scene will keep chugging along, for the love of the game.
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