At the Tien Son Sports Arena, after two weeks of group stage matches and playoffs, the semifinals and final were played on Sunday, with the home team winning an e-sport title for the first time.
Its Team Flash, comprising six professional gamers, beat Taipei’s MAD Team, the 2018 champion, 4-3 in an intense final.
Another local team, Vietnam Wildcards, finished in the top four after losing to MAD Team in a semifinal.
In the other semifinal Team Flash was almost eliminated by Thailand Wildcards after going down 3-1. But an excellent comeback helped the team turn the tables as it won three straight games and a spot in the final.
Team Flash won the $200,000 grand prize while MAD Team pocketed $110,000. The losing semifinalists got $50,000 each.
Arena of Valor is a popular 3D, multiplayer online battle arena mobile game developed for iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch.
Players compete in matches which last 12-18 minutes on average. They aim to destroy turrets on the map in order to destroy the core.
As of September 2018 the game grossed over $140 million in sales.
It was one of the e-sports at the 2018 Asian Games and Vietnam won a bronze medal. It will be part of the SEA Games in Philippines in December.
The AIC was played from June 27 to July 14 with 12 teams from nine countries and territories playing for prizes worth $500,000.