Event Coverage

MSI Beat It 2013 Grand Finals - Battle of the Titans

By Joy Hou - 2 Dec 2013

Day Two - Global Finals Part I: Race to the Top 4

Day Two: Global Finals Part I - Race to the Top 4

Emcees kicking off the second day of the event.

Show-goers and gamers were indulged with some artistes dancing to "Beat It", a well-known song that was penned and performed by the late Michael Jackson, colloquially known as the King of Pop.

The Michael Jackson look-alike with background dancers and their rendition of "Beat It".

Then, Sam Chern, MSI's Global Marketing Director, gave a short speech on how MSI gaming products, especially laptops, have evolved through the years. He said that portability has always been the first consideration when MSI engineers build gaming laptops, and that the company will continue to fuse the latest technologies and hardware in developing future gaming models without compromising on mobility and cost.

MSI Global Marketing Director, Sam Chern.

MSI China General Manager, Sam Lee, addressing the crowd.

NVIDIA's Global Vice President & China General Manager, Jams Zhang, as well as NVIDIA's Sales Director, Patty Huang, greeting the crowd.

Eizo's Product Manager, Sunny Zhou, briefly explaining how the brand's lineup of gaming monitors benefit FPS gamers.

Another short act to entertain the audience and to officially get the tournament underway.

 Excluding the cyberathletes, the turnout was rather decent.

During an exclusive interview, Sam Chern mentioned that he was pleased with the direction that the MSI gaming products were advancing towards, and that the brand is already looking to further penetrate the Asian market. He also divulged that Vietnam will be one of the company's key targets for 2014.

Sam Chern, MSI's Global Marketing Director, giving a thumbs up when asked about what he thought of the tournament so far.

fnatic's Chief Gaming Officer, Patrik "cArn" Sättermon, revealed that he will continue to collaborate with MSI to deliver gaming equipment that's functional yet affordable according to constructive feedback from gaming enthusiasts. He also commented that because MSI Beat It is set on a global scale, more gaming talents can be discovered and given the opportunity to pit their skills against more prominent cyberathletes. He remarked that he was overwhelmed by the players from the SEA region, who put up an impressive display of abilities the previous day. When asked about his thoughts on facing the Vietnamese Legends (who came in second in the SEA finals), he humbly said that he was "worried" for his team, and that things could be more "difficult" than he expected.

Patrik revealed that he will continue to collaborate with MSI to deliver gaming equipment that's functional yet affordable according to constructive feedback from gaming enthusiasts. We hope he'll tune in to our members and feedback from our Gaming Notebook forum as well :)

On with the tournament: Team nxl, Legends, and Team LZ join teams from Europe, Middle East, APAC, and of course, China, to form two groups. Notably, fnatic and SK Gaming, both representing Sweden, were clustered under the same group.

Group A:

  • VeryGames (France)
  • Vox Eminor (Australia)
  • Nface (China)
  • inchk1ng (Hong Kong)
  • Team nxl (Indonesia)
  • Falood Jacksons (United Arab Emirates)

Group B:

  • fnatic (Sweden)
  • SK Gaming (Sweden)
  • Legends (Vietnam)
  • TyLoo (China)
  • Team LZ (Malaysia)
  • H5 Gaming (China)

The games were conducted to adopt the old (but reliable) Intel Extreme Masters layout, where the group winners would progress directly to the championship playoffs while teams that settled for second and third placings qualified for the quarter-finals.

fnatic (from Sweden) warming up for the game against Legends.

Legends preparing for one of the biggest matches of their lives.

fnatic face off Legends in Group B.

Other matches were being played simultaneously as well on the sides.

Reigning World Champions VeryGames demonstrated exactly why they were the best team globally, with an unbeaten run in the group stage. Not surprisingly, the French effortlessly dominated Group A, collecting all of the maximum 5 points to anchor a spot in the top 4. In Group B, fnatic finished first although they somewhat struggled against compatriots SK Gaming and underdogs Legends, snagging the second spot in the eventual 4.

Australians Vox Eminor and Chinese Nface from Group A, as well as Swedish SK Gaming and Vietnamese Legends from Group B, placed second and third respectively. Following the format, this meant that Nface would take on SK Gaming, while Legends would compete against Vox Eminor. The winner of the former match would face VeryGames, while the winner of the latter, fnatic.

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