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Geek Fam claimed their second title of 2020 on Saturday when they swept BOOM Esports in the BTS Pro Series Season 2: Southeast Asia grand finals.
While Geek Fam entered the tournament as one of the stronger teams in the field, they were far from favourites to lift the trophy. The road to the top was tough with Fnatic, Neon Esports, BOOM Esports and Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) leaders TNC Predator all in attendance, but Carlo “KuKu” Palad and his crew delivered when it mattered and pocketed US $21,000 in tournament winnings.
In the group stage, Geek Fam defeated Cignal Ultra (2-0), Team Adroit (2-0), Execration (2-0) and Neon Esports (2-0), drew with BOOM Esports (1-1), Reality Rift (1-1), TNC Predator (1-1), T1 (1-1), and lost to Fnatic (0-2). That 4-4-1 record was enough to book a spot in the upper bracket of the playoffs, where KuKu and co. switched into a higher gear and produced a remarkable run to the grand finals.
In the opening round of the playoffs, Geek Fam faced Fnatic, who defeated them just two days prior, but that did not stop GF from entering the match with confidence. After losing the opening map, Geek Fam overpowered the SEA juggernauts with a 2-1 reverse sweep to punch a ticket for the upper bracket finals. There, they faced the surging BOOM Esports, who took the first map but went down 26-16 and 25-4 on the next two.
BOOM then disposed of Fnatic (2-0) in the lower bracket to set up a rematch with Geek Fam in the best-of-five (Bo5) grand final series. Alfi “Khezcute” Nelphyana and his men entered the clash as favourites but proved no match for Geek Fam, who showed no struggle en route to a clean sweep win.
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BOOM Esports entered the first game of the finals with a very mobile and roam-heavy draft that allowed them to keep pace with Geek Fam for the first 30 minutes, at which point GF took the reins and charged towards the first win of the series.
Khezcute and co. took an early lead in the second game, but Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto’s Morphling tore them apart once he got his hands on Ethereal Blade. Raven ended the game with a perfect 15/0/5 score and showed once more why he is the team’s main carry.
After suffering two crushing defeats, BOOM Esports’ spirit was broken, as clearly seen in their approach to the third and final game of the series. Although they were somewhat competitive for the first 15 minutes, KuKu and his team proved to be too much to handle as Raven on Troll Warlord put on another standout display to finish with a 12/1/8 record.
The BTS Pro Series S2: SEA title is just the latest in a series of successes for Geek Fam this year. Other noteworthy tournament placements include a runner-up finish at ESL SEA Championship 2020, third-place finishes at WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020, BTS Pro Series S1 and ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: Southeast Asia, as well as a gold medal from Cyber.bet Cup: Spring Series – SEA.
Geek Fam are currently competing at the Asia Summer Championship, while they’re scheduled to take their first steps at the ONE Esports Dota2 SEA League next Saturday when they face Neon Esports in the second week of the competition.
