Cignal Ultra Warriors snared back-to-back championships in the The Nationals Dota 2 tournament after exacting revenge on STI eOlympians, 3-1, in the grand finals on Sunday night.
Cignal cruised to an early 2-0 lead then got the job done in Game 4 behind captain-soft support Erice "Erice" Guerra and carry Denz "Abat" Anedez to bag its second straight crown and the P500,000 grand prize.
Midlaner James "Jamesy" John on his Rubick and Abat on his Sven powered the Warriors' 20-4 victory in 31 minutes in the title series opener.
Jamesy finished with a 7-1-12 kill-death-assist record while Abat went perfect with eight kills and six assists.
Erice's support Queen of Pain led Cignal to a 51-minute win in Game 2, but former Cignal player and now STI's carry Fernando "Nando" Mendoza went ham on his Gyrocopter to prolong the series.
Not wanting to see the series go down to a decider, Erice on his Mirana made a big Aegis steal play to disrupt the momentum of STI in Game 4.
Abat's Morphling then took charge in the closing stretch en route to the title-clinching 43-minute triumph.
It was a sweet revenge for Cignal, which slipped to the lower bracket after a 2-1 loss to STI in the upper bracket finals.
The Warriors avoided elimination after coming back from a first game loss to the Happy Feet Emperors, 2-1, in the lower bracket finals.
Nando and the STI eOlympians brought home P250,000 while Happy Feet got the third-placer's prize of P150,000. Fourth-place finisher Laus Auto Group-Playbook Esports netted P100,000.
The Nationals is the country's first and only franchised-based esports league featuring Dota 2 (PC), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (mobile) and Tekken 7 (console).