Cover-Credits:
The Dota 2 squad of T1 will be based in the Philippines full time going forward, and business internet will be installed. A tweet from the organization's CEO, Joe Marsh, stated that this move was made to avoid having his Dota 2 team experience the same internet issues that it faced against BOOM Esports in the grand final series of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Southeast Asia (SEA) 2021-22 Regional Finals. T1’s midlaner Karl "Karl" Matthew Baldovino faced connection issues playing from his location which posed to be problematic to the extent of a stand-in being required to be brought in for the team for game four of the series. T1 lost the grand final by a score of 3-1.
Karl's internet problem in the Regional Finals’ grand finals lead T1 to move its Dota 2 team to the Philippines full time
Alongside preventing a repetition of what occurred during the grand final on 13th Feb, Marsh said that he believed that when his team is together, they play at a greater level.
The T1 players have been playing from home for the entirety of Tour 1, regardless of whether it has been the regular regional league or the Regional Finals. Unluckily, connection problems arose during the grand final of the Regional Finals. At 2-0 down, T1 was struggling to contend with the aggressive gameplay from BOOM Esports. But in game three, thanks to its characteristic top tier teamfight gameplay T1 came back to take its first win in the grand final.
Unfortunately for T1, Karl was unable to compete in game four due to connection issues, and Polaris Esports' Mc Nicholson "Lelouch-" Villanueva filled in. The momentum swing in favor of T1 in game three did not translate into a win in the fourth game and it lost the series 3-1. If Karl had continued to be involved, T1 would have had better chances of turning the series around.
Going forward, the team is slated to compete in the BTS Pro Series S10 with its first match scheduled for 15th February against Execration. While the entire squad may not be able to gather in a short period of time due to travel protocols, it is likely that the team will be able to get together for Tour 2, which begins in March.
Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte Santos (officially a stand-in for now), Carlo "Kuku" Palad, and Karl hail from the Philippines, whereas Matthew "Whitemon" Filemon and Kenny "Xepher" Deo are both from Indonesia. T1, a South Korean organization, is taking the same approach as BOOM Esports, an Indonesian organization, which has set up its bootcamp in the Philippines due to the majority of its Dota 2 players being Filipino.
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