EVOS Icon of Indonesia posted a hard-fought victory over ECHO Proud of the Philippines in the grand finals to reign supreme in the World Cyber Games 2023 over the weekend at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center in Busan, South Korea.
Bannered by Kenley “Veldora” Zefanya, Arthur “Sutsujin” Sunarkho, Muhammad “Cr1te” Yusuf, Erland “Douma” Saputra and Vincentsius “VaanStrong” Adrianto, the Indonesians held its ground in the crucial stretch to conquer the prestigious event.
It was the second international tourney that the Indonesians won last month since ONIC Esports ruled the Snapdragon Pro Series Season 3.
EVOS Icon took control early as it won the first two game of the finals series over the Filipino side composed of James “Jeymz” Gloria, Justine “Zaida” Palma, Jankurt “KurtTzy” Matira, Jhonville “Outplayed” Villar and Jaypee Cruz.
The Filipinos, however, would not go down without a fight as they evened the series by winning Games 3 and 4.
ECHO Proud also had the early lead in Game 5, but a series of misplays and failed team fights paved the way for EVOS Icon to make a comeback and end the series in 12 minutes once and for all.
ECHO’s main squad, the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines Season 11 champion squad of Tristan “YAWI” Cabrera, Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno, Frederic “Bennyqt” Gonzales, Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya and Alston “Sanji” Pabico, also saw action in the world tourney.
After dominating Group C in the Group Stage, ECHO clashed with ECHO Proud in the upper bracket semifinals where they lost via 0-2 sweep that sent them crashing to the lower bracket against ONIC Overlord.
One of the favorites to win the tournament, ONIC Overlord dealt a knockout blow to the world champion ECHO with another 0-2 sweep, sending home the Filipino players without a single win in the Playoffs.
The minor tournament saw ECHO pocket $4,000 for their efforts and fourth-place finish while ECHO Proud took home $10,000 for emerging as runner-up.
EVOS Icon won the lion’s share of the prize pool with $20,000.
