Half of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC)-Southeast Asia Regional League upper division is set to be composed of Filipino teams as Vice Esports grabbed the last spot on Thursday.
Vice demolished the veteran-laden Malaysian squad Galaxy Racer, 2-0, in the final best-of-three match of the Closed Qualifier Stage 1.
The sweep allowed the Tamaraws to make it four PH bets in the eight-team upper division along with direct invite TNC Predator and fellow qualified squads Neon Esports and Execration.
Other teams in the top division are invitees Fnatic, BOOM Esports and T1.
In Game 1, Michael Roi "Enryu" Ladines on his offlane Mars and Mark Anthony "Bob" Urbina on his mid Ember Spirit absolutely thrashed Galaxy Racer led by Dota veterans Lee "kYxY" Kong Yang and Adam "343" Shah.
Enryu powered his way to an 11-1-17 kill-death-assist record while Bob went perfect with nine kills and 18 assists in the 33-6 rout in 37 minutes.
Seasoned support Joshua "Samael" Dela Serna (famously known as Owa) was also instrumental in the lopsided victory with his Mirana putting up 25 assists and four kills against two deaths.
It was carry Jinn "Palos" Lamatao's time to take charge with his Morphling in the hard-fought Game 2.
With Ethereal Blade and Eye of Skadi, Palos dished out massive damage in crucial clashes to lead Vice to a 34-30 victory in nearly 38 minutes.
Palos, a former member of Execration, racked up 12 kills and five assists against a lone death even as Bob on his Leshrac logged a 14-6-13 record.
The support duo of Owa's Mirana and Ryniel "Zenki" Calvez's Keeper of the Light finished with a combined 43 assists.
The other PH teams in Smart Omega and Cignal Ultra, which failed to make it to the upper division, dropped to the 12-team Closed Qualifier Stage 2 wherein the top eight will comprise the lower division.