The away game is always a tough match to play especially if the home team packs a fortress full of home supporters. Such affairs commonly prove nervy and will certainly induce a sense of nausea in the stomachs of the ill prepared. “Through past experiences, it is definitely daunting to play against a local team because majority of the crowd will be cheering for them and that could affect the spirits of our team,” relates Michael 'XtReM1St' Phee, the general manager of AEONSports.

AEONSports is no stranger to big time gaming fairs and exhibitions yet their next furore at the upcoming World Cyber Games Asian Championship in Jakarta will be a well calculated one. “We've had a mixture of ups and downs in terms of competition results since TGX 2011. Locally, we've won our 3rd major title after clinching the championship at the SMM Singapore qualifiers and WCG Singapore qualifiers. However, our recent runs for MSI Selangor & ESTC Bangkok weren't impressive.”

The tournament, which will commence on the 9th of November 2011 and run till the 13th of the same month, will pack a host of regionally acclaimed teams such as Mineski.Infinity of the Philippines and MUFC of Malaysia into two Defense of the Ancients competitions - DotA, as well as its much anticipated sequel, DotA 2. While Michael expects DotA 2 to be a wildcard affair given the substantially lesser preparation time given to the teams in the run up to the tournament, he sees the focus of the competition will remain on the first iteration of the DotA series. “Unfortunately, the inclusion of DotA 2 in the WCG AC came quite late,” explains Michael, “so we've decided to focus more on DotA 1 as it’s the original WCG AC competition and national pride is at stake! However, we'll still practice on DotA 2 and do our best in it.”

DotA 2 is due for full release in 2012, which was officially announced on October 13. Yet despite the lack of exposure to the masses, the game has made a fan of the 'XtReM1St'. “In my opinion, DotA 2 is a marvelous game! Its improved graphics is awesome and the fact that it has kept most of its originality from DotA 1 which makes porting to & fro a very easy process.”

However, the dazzling aesthetics of the sequel will be of little reprieve to the competitors in the DotA 2 segment of the competition because they will find themselves up against a better prepared few. “The two powerhouses for this DotA 2 competition will be EHOME and MUFC as they've already had competitive experience at 'The International' (the million dollar curtain raiser by Valve for DotA 2 at Gamescon 2011),” submits Michael, “unlike the DotA 1 tournament, I expect all the participating teams to be prepared and very dangerous.”

In spite of the challenging task at hand, the AEONSports camp, with their usual line up of Wong 'WarNutZ' jeng yih, Wilson 'd4rkw1sH' Tang, Lin 'Bouncy' Zhi Ren, Patrick 'XuL-' Kwan, Eugene 'FrAgniiTy' Lim, not forgetting owner Wong 'Eryc' Wei Zhen and the general manager himself, look to be in buoyant mood. Laying down the goals and targets for the WCG AC Michael points out, “realistically, at least a 1st runners-up position would be satisfactory, but of course, we'll be aiming for the crown as national pride is also at stake!”

From left to right:  Su Wei Han, Veisiang Lee, Lin Zhiren, Maw Chai and Wilson Tang

Redemption is on the cards as AEONSports will be out to draw blood and reassert themselves as the champions of the region. “I'd like to apologize to our fans for our poor performances during our last two overseas events and we'd like to make it up to you during WCG & SMM Grand finals! Unfortunately we cannot do it during the License2play's DotA 2 event due to clash with SMM.”

“We would like to thank the fans and Kingston Technology for their HyperX memory modules which has aided us efficiently to boost our computer performances & allowing us to financially participate in overseas tournaments! They've been a great support to the AEON organization all these while!”

For more information on the WCG Asian Championship Games, head on down to WCG AC official website. For more info on AEONSports, follow them on Facebook Page.

The AEONSports organization has DotA, Counter Strike and League of Legends squads. They’ve recently welcomed a FIFA division and will be competing in other major tournament such as the Spotgamers league and One Asia Cup.

For those of you interested in DotA 2, AEONSports is holding a DotA 2 beta key contest! Just Like their Facebook page and answer two simple questions to stand a chance to win! Contest ends 10 November 2011.

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