All eyes will be on Boom Esports as the DPC SEA 2021/ '22 Tour II opens on Wednesday, March 16.
Brimming with confidence following a successful run in the DPC SEA Winter Tour and a championship in the Galaxy Gamers DOTA 2 Invitational Series Dubai, the Indonesia-based esports team led by Filipino stars Timothy “Tims” Randrup and Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer is pegged as the heavy favorites for the second tour of the DPC season where the lion’s share of the $205,000 top prize and the 920 DPC points are at stake.
The top three teams at the end of the tournament will also earn a ticket to the ESL Stockholm Major 2022.
Standing on Boom's way, however, are the seven other teams which also tapped the services of some of the country's top DOTA 2 talents to bolster its respective lineups.
T1, which finished second to BOOM in the regional finals, will have Filipino star Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte to boost its already potent lineup that also featured Karl “Karl” Jayme and Carlo “Kuku” Palad while third placers Team SMG added Filipino-American player Michael "ninjaboogie" Ross Jr to backstop fellow Filipino player Ryan Jay “Raging Potato” Qui and Malaysian star Yek Nai “MidOne” Zheng.
Fnatic, on the other hand, has kept its team intact led by Djardel “DJ” Mampusti and Armel “Armel” Tabios following a solid showing in the Winter Tour where it placed second at the end of the regular season before it fell to the hands of T1 and Team SMG in the regional finals.
OB Esports X Neon is also fielding an all-Filipino crew for the Spring Tour as it signed former Atomic Esports players Philip "Asta丶" Joshua Torres and John "Jing" Rey Yee Duyan, and former Alpha Esports Joshua "avataRmod3" H. Maraño.
Meanwhile, OB.Neon's former carry Jim “Palos” Lamatao has now joined Execration together with former Boom player Justine Ryan “Tino” Grimaldo, bolstering the lineup that has last season holdovers Mark Anthony "Bob" Urbina and Ralph Richard "RR" Peñano.
Also out to shock the Division I is Polaris Esports which dominated the lower division of the Winter Tour behind star players John Anthony "Natsumi-" Vargas and Mc Nicholson “Lelouch-” Villanueva. Joining Polaris from the Division II is Nigma Galaxy SEA led by Indonesian player Muhammad "inYourdreaM" Rizky.
NGX SEA, the only team without a Filipino player in the Spring Tour will test its mettle against Polaris Esports in the season opener at 3 p.m.followed by a clash between Fnatic and OB.Neon.