"Pinoy pride" is definitely alive in the Dota 2 esports scene as Filipino pro players compose over half of the total participants in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC)-Southeast Asia Regional League upper division which will kick off on Wednesday, January 20.
A total of 22 out of the 40 players (55%) in the DPC-SEA upper division are Filipinos, with six of the eight teams having at least two players from the Philippines.
PH powerhouse team TNC Predator has the trio of carry Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte, midlaner Armel "Armel" Tabios and soft support Timothy John "Tims" Randrup.
Qualified teams Neon Esports, Execration and Vice Esports all boast of full Filipino lineups.
Fnatic and T1, which will open the upper division hostilities, each features two Pinoy players.
Fnatic, a multi-national esports organization, has carry Polo "Raven" Fausto and support Djardel "Dj" Mampusti while South Korean organization T1 has offlaner Carlo "Kuku" Palad and midlaner Karl "Karl" Jayme (also known as Santino).
The six-week SEA upper division stakes three spots in the first Dota 2 Major tournament this year.
Meanwhile, 10 of the 40 players (25%) in the lower division are Pinoy pros coming from Smart Omega and Cignal Ultra.
Omega begins its campaign against ZeroTwo on Wednesday while Ultra battles the same foe for its first match on Thursday.