One of the highlights of the year is attending a LAN that’s going to have the best players in the region battling it out for their share of a $4000 prize pool, live in Melbourne. The 5th Season of AEF looks to be delivering on the hype, with the best 4 teams, cosplayers and esports personalities all lining up to get there on the 7th and 8th of July.
The main attraction, the top ANZ Dota 2 teams, will be competing in a double elimination bracket, with Seventh Heaven and Athletico, the top seeded teams from the competition, playing each other from the upper bracket, whilst Natural 9 and Trident will battle each other in the knock-out lower bracket. There will also be a cosplay competition held during the event, as well as a 1v1 competition, for those who think they have what it takes to be the best!
As the teams prepare, here’s my take on the teams participating:
Athletico
Fresh from the victory over Natural 9 at the ESL AUNZ Championships in Sydney, these guys are the hottest team in the region, with hopes high that they can perform to expectations with regular position 5 player Sam ‘Fury’ Johnson playing at this LAN. Athletico only lost to Seventh Heaven during the online group stages in a 2-0, so they’ll be keen to settle their score with them.
Athletico love to run aggressive mid-game lineups with plenty of exciting team-fights and coordinated pushes to set up their two main cores in Splicko and Loski to shine.
Players:
- Nick ‘Splicko’ Capeski
- Damon ‘Loski’ Reid
- Tuan ‘TEKCOR’ Nguyen
- Matin ‘Matino’ Gunner
- Sam ‘Fury’ Johnson
Seventh Heaven
The meta looks to be suiting the playstyle of 15min+ aggression, and that’s something that this team love to do. After being beaten 2-1 by Natural 9 in the Upper Bracket finals in the Asian Dota 2 League Season 2, they will for sure come to AEF with more aggression and push to solidify their position in the scene as one of the most creative and fearsome teams.
Players:
- Calvin ‘idealism’ Chen
- David ‘sacrifuzun’ Hwang
- Quan ‘rizz’ Nguyen
- Alexander ‘Boo Boo’ Nguyen
- Cameron ‘RodgerDodger’ Thornton
Natural 9
If this team was represented by a hero, it would be the Juggernaut. Not only is this team impressive with the hero, they have also ruled the roost of Australian DOTA for the past 3-4 years, crushing any and all opposition at LAN and online. Their recent trip to ESL AUNZ Championships saw them go down to Athletico, and I’m sure captain Shatan won’t be letting them get away with it again.
Players:
- Daniel ‘balla’ Arnous
- James ‘XemistrY’ Lee
- Phuc ‘lordboonz’ Nguyen
- Alex ‘blackshatan’ Chan
- Sean ‘cas158’ Smith
Trident
The underdog of the LAN, they barely scrapped through the online stage with unconventional picks and off-tempo plays to interrupt their opponents. Not many out there believe they can make it to Grand Final, but then again, not many believed they would make it to LAN. They face a tough first opponent in N9, who will test the mettle of these new kids on the block.
Players:
- Alex ‘Zakaron’ Tsang
- Tommy ‘LoseYourself’ Fam
- Jordan ‘Zavier’ Baker
- Andrew ‘Andros’ Hockley
- Kyle ‘Spag’ Winfield
The AEF Season 5 LAN Finals is being held at the Union Theatre University of Melbourne this weekend 7th and 8th July. Check out their facebook page for more details.