The most highly anticipated DotA countdown of the century - the SMM Grand National DotA Tournament 2009 (SGNDT09) has finally reached a momentous conclusion as DotA maestros shed their wrath onto the impending battleground of A'Famosa Resort's Cowboy Town from the 27 till 29 of November bringing to light a magnificent display of virtuoso combat between East and West. With a spectator sport of even bigger magnitude accompanying higher record-breaking cash prizes of over RM 135,000, all eyes were fixated on Malaysia as over 38 local and 18 International teams made their way from Denmark, Australia, Canada, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore - marking their competitive presence at the Grand DotA World Premier for all to witness in pure admiration.

The Match-day for Day 1 kicked-off a notch shortly after noontime to signify the beginning of a very exciting set of matches packing high anticipation and euphoric passion for all to witness worldwide via Gamestah's live professional commentary and Garena's streaming platform - which was immeasurably clocked to server-crash due to the staggering rate of users piling up to witness this grand event online. Teams flocked over to SMM's registration counter by abundance - happily receiving a door gift packed with post-apocalypse figurines from Hellgate London, courtesy of IAHgames. Apart from a momentary (and pretty fun) black-out caused by Balanar's eagerness to make his presence felt, Day 1 certainly packed enough zeal to transmit this heavily anticipated showdown between the DotA elites throughout the tournament.

Day 2 bundled an enormous wave of DotA match-ups day in day out - as our dedicated game marshalls strive to channel the escalating echelon of immense potentiality into a sublime battlefield where only the survival of the fittest shall remain in the hot seat - only to the much desired irony exuding from the PMS and XtC babes that were making heads turn a full 360 degrees.

With a massive tug and pull between the East and West, it looked almost certain that the superior teams would emerge as victors for the night - however, it was indeed the random turn of events that lead to a successive conclusion of virtuoso teams feeling threaten to extinction by the China powerhouses present. Even the high-flying Meet.Your.Makers (MYM) Team from Denmark succumbed to consecutive defeats soon after being humbled by both INC'Excello and FTZ.Asia.net on their home turf.

The fall of MYM caused the biggest uproar as they lost to a team who wasn't even considered a DotA powerhouse in Asia. In fact, MYM beat FTZ.Asia.net previously in two straight games and they showed their superiority in terms of gameplay, teamwork and coordination. However, MYM just did not have the resilience that many Asian teams showed in abundance and they were seen to be quite tense during the course of the games especially after they were beaten down by INC'Excello, one of Malaysian's top teams. The whispers of the crowd could be heard after MYM's defeat; that they may have conquered Europe but not the world.

The Final Match-Day was a euphoric scene to behold as reigning forces from Asia pushed their way to the top of the summit - heaving a huge sight of fortitude and prowess to secure the hotspot of being crowned champions at the greatest DotA tournament to date - a clear requisite for proving their worth at the hallmark of champions. The top-quality action experienced from all 3 remaining days has inevitably left a challenge mark onto their heroically acclaimed status as they fully unleash their electrifying talent by deploying their unrestrained gaming vessels onto the highly awaited final battleground at the Grand Stage - further triggering the impending wrath and divine intervention of virtuoso international teams wishing to fearlessly challenge the home-soil warriors in this epic battlefield preset by Sendi Mutiara Multimedia.

With the final outcome ushering closer to a complete round of applause, all providence was soon unfolded at the closing ceremony as the eighth spot went to Team AEON.SG from Singapore, winning RM1,100 cash plus sponsored products towards their path of glory. Notching seventh place with RM1,300 cash intact plus sponsored products was Team StarsBoba - hailing all the way from Vietnam and proving to their other Asian neighbors that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with. Settling for sixth spot was Team CityHunter from China - receiving RM1,500 cash plus sponsoredproducts and joining their other China brotherly compatriots in the top eight. The crowd favorites - Team Kingsurf from Malaysia emerged at fifth place, bringing with them RM2,000 cash plus sponsored products back to their Johor homeland. Displaying a strong finish and representing Malaysia at the highest of hierarchy in fourth place was Team INC'Excello from SS2, Petaling Jaya - bagging RM8,000 cash plus sponsored products in their mark of accomplishment. Clinching the second runner-up spot and letting go of their defending title was Team EHOME from CHINA - slotting home RM13,000 in cash, individual trophies, plus sponsored products in return. First runner-up went to Team Commedieu, also from China - receiving a lucrative RM20,000 cash that is to be multiplied by twice the amount once converted to the $Yuan dollar, along with trophies and sponsored products. Finally, fighting the odds of defeat and subsequently debunking their ex-sponsors SGTY from pulling out at the very last minute by emerging as current Champions for the SMM Grand National DotA Tournament 2009 was Team For.The.Dream from China - bagging the grand total of RM42,000 cash, individual trophies, and sponsored products and listing themselves as current title holders for the Challenge Trophy of Year 2009.

As the curtain unfolds into a staggering finish, so were the conclusive outcome of this year's mammoth tournament as many top seeded teams were left relishing their performance and contingency as they crave to train even harder for next year's challenge. All ears will be highly attuned to the prize money for the Year 2010 as Dato' Dr. Ricky M.G Lim, CEO, Co Founder & President of Sendi Mutiara Multimedia keenly announced the cash purse of the first spot for next year to be in the region of RM50,000 - the highest ever to date! The DotA gaming world shall once more tremble by a tenth fold as we look forward to witness new breeds of DotA Champions emerge from the rubble.

SMM DOTA GRAND FINAL 2009 - CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS & PRIZES:

CHAMPION: TEAM FOR THE DREAM (China)
- RM 42,000 Cash + Trophy
- x5 Seagate freeAgent Go 320 Gigabytes Portable Hard Drive
- x5 SteelSeries Siberia V2 Headset (White)
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin


1st RUNNER UP: TEAM COMMEDIEU (China)
- RM 20,000 Cash + Trophy
- x5 Seagate freeAgent Go 320 Gigabytes Portable Hard Drive
- x5 SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin


2nd RUNNER UP: TEAM EHOME (China)
- RM 13,000 Cash + Trophy
- x5 Seagate Barracuda 12, 500 Gigabytes SATA Hdd
- x5 SteelSeries 5Hv2 Headset (White)
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin


4th PLACING: TEAM INC' EXCELLO (Malaysia)
- RM 8,000 Cash
- x5 Seagate Barracuda 12, 500 Gigabytes SATA Hdd
- x5 SteelSeries Siberia Full-size Headset (Red)
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin


5th PLACING: TEAM KINGSURF (Malaysia)
- RM 2,000 Cash
- x5 Seagate Barracuda 12, 500 Gigabytes SATA Hdd
- x5 SteelSeries 4H Headset
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin


6th PLACING: TEAM CITY HUNTER (China)
- RM 1,500 Cash
- x5 Seagate Barracuda 12, 500 Gigabytes SATA Hdd
- x5 SteelSeries Kinzu Mouse (Retail)
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin


7th PLACING: TEAM STARSBOBA (Vietnam)
- RM 1,300 Cash
- x5 Seagate Barracuda 12, 500 Gigabytes SATA Hdd
- x5 SteelSeries Merc Keyboard (US)
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin


8th PLACING: TEAM AEON.SG (Singapore)
- RM 1,100 Cash
- x5 Seagate Barracuda 12, 500 Gigabytes SATA Hdd
- x5 SteelSeries 4HD Mouse Pad
- x5 [Limited Edition] SMM DotA Grand Finals Laptop Skin