As the festive season starts to creep up, Santa has brought DOTA gamers around the world an early present! No it's not an all female DOTA team comprising of supermodels...

We're into Day 2 of the SMM Grand National Final DOTA Tournament 2009 and it is set to be awesome. Day 1 saw the Malaysian Qualifers take place starting at about 5PM GMT+8 (8PM AEDT) till 12PM GMT+8 (3AM AEDT). Also the draw for the group stages took place with the lovely TobiWanKenobi and Will being invited onstage to do the honors. So we will see some international team action take place today!

Streams of the matches will be up on Server 1 throughout the day so check back periodically for them. I'll try to update this article and our twitter page when they start ;D! Also, check back on this article for periodical updates of what's happening during Day 2 of the event!

8:00 AM: Well looks like we overshot our wake-up time by about an hour (was supposed to be 7, we only got up at around 8). Not to worry though, the event only starts at 9:30, we just wanted to get breakfast unlike yesterday!

8:30 AM: We're currently having our breakfast at the food hall outside the tournament hall area. I think we all had some pretty good sleep after knocking off from the event at about 12PM. Toby and Will were major tired from non-stop casting during DAY 1 and I from running around doing the logistical stuff that needed doing!

9:45 AM: First stage match to kick off the day! E-Home the reigning champions from China going up against AEON.SG! Toby and Will seem pumped to get some commentary action going!

10.25 AM: Shoutout to my mate Asyraf from local Malaysia E-Sports Site SpotGamers (www.spotgamers.blogspot.com)! He just informed me that MYM has surprisingly lost against team INC.Exello in their first group stage match.

10.37 AM: In Group D, XTC triumphs over Stars.Boba. In Group E, Mineski has been defeated by FTD! The E-Home vs AEON.SG match is really heating up with Aeon leading 23-12(Hero Kills).

11:00 AM: More updates! In Group A, CyberTime defeated the boys from Canada, PokerIdol. AVAVA whom I think are from Indonesia picked up a win against INC Xiao. In Group B, XT Reborn put the smack down onto VAW4SI whilst FTZ.Asia took up a win after going up against female team PMS.Asterisk. In Group F, CyberTime Fishnet took down XTC.NYX. In Group G, Mcity took down Commedieu. Finally in Group H, Digi Resurrection put one in the bag after taking down S.MSK! I think that's the first games of the group stages. The E-Home vs AEON.SG stage match is still ongoing LOL! Seems AEON.SG is leading 34-21(Hero Kills).

11:00 AM: Finally, the stage match is over. AEON.SG emerge the victors over reigning champions E-Home. What a way to start off their group stages! Next stage match will be CityHunter going up agains Digi.Resurrection. Also, apparently over 30,000 people were tuning into the Garena TV stream and cause it to crash, the only time it has ever actually happen in that manner it seems.

11:30 AM: Second stage match LIVE on Server 1 now - CityHunter vs Digi.Resurrection. Second game round of the group stages is now in play!

11:30 AM: Digi.Resurrection with a dominant lead against CityHunter. They're willing to go for calculated risks and don't really hesitate. A team to look out for during the remainder of the competition.

12:00PM: More results from stage 2 of the group stages! In Group A, CyberTime took down team Avava. In Group B, INC.Excello added another win to their tally after taking out PMS.Asterisk. E-VZP Freedom triumphed over DSD. In Group E, Irelax-1 took down Digi easy. In Group F, Kingsurf chalked up two more wins vs XGN & XTC.NYX. In Group G, GG.M|x beat Tu|Par & NT.Gaming. Finally, in Group H, CityHunter from China picked up a win against Team Little.

2:30PM: Stage match between PokerIdol and Avava about to take place soon. We've all filled our stomachs up after the break we had in the action from 2PM. Starting to regret not bringing my Nike shoes down. So much running around ;*( !

2:35PM: Third stage match LIVE on Server 1 now - PokerIdol vs Team Avava.

4PM: The PokerIdol vs Team Avava stage match is just EPIC. Both teams are in a deadlock at the moment. PokerIdol had the early advantage but Team Avava have a strong comeback. Who's going to win? It could go either way. We just crossed the 66 minute mark on the game!

4:45PM: Fourth stage match LIVE on Server 1 now - MyM vs FTZ.Asia.

4:48PM: First blood already! MyM claim it and the crowd is lappin' it up. They've packed up the hall and are even sitting on the floor infront of the stage to watch the match!

4:49PM: FTZ.Asia claim revenge, putting themselves on the board as well! Intense match right from the start. My goodness. Oh, I forgot to mention, PokerIdol narrowly won their match and it was in spectacular fashion. Do keep in mind the replays & shoutcasts from the event will be up on the Gamestah website later on!

5:52PM: At the 48th minute mark and about 10 minutes after FTZ.Asia did a 5 man clear of MyM, MyM throw in the towel. This means that they're eliminated from the competition and FTZ.Asia advance to the Top 16 Playoffs which will be starting shortly.

6:04PM: Fifth stage match LIVE on Server 1 now - Kingsurf vs FTZ.Asia.

8:08PM: We just got back from dinner and it seems the event is running earlier then expected. I must say the guys from SMM are running one of the smoothest LANs I've ever been to. Coming up soon is a Losers Bracket Stage Match, AEON.SG going up against CyberTime.

8:13PM: Sixth stage match LIVE on Server 1 now - AEON.SG vs CyberTime

9:40PM: In what was a very, very, very, very, very slow match, AEON.SG slugged down CyberTime. Not to count out either team, both teams played it safe and passive as they were both in the Losers Bracket and were hangin' on for dear life to secure their passage to the next stage of the Losers Bracket. In a somewhat more exciting match, INC.Excello took out Mineski. The shouts and screams from that match kept making the public turn around to check out what was happening in the match as it was held in the main arena.

10:05PM: Seventh stage match LIVE on Server 1 now - INC.Excello vs cD.

10:55PM: cD emerge victorious over INC.Excello. They played their heroes to absolute perfection. Big shoutout to whoever played their Morphling & TideHunter. Impeccable timing & coordination from cD just whittled INC.Excello's morale until they could go in for the kill.

11:11PM: Eighth stage match LIVE on Server 1 now - CityHunter vs Stars.Boba

12:08PM: CityHunter with yet another spectacular performance, they trump Stars.Boba. An intense match is occurring in the main arena at the moment. AEON.SG are battling against Kingsurf and it doesn't look good. The crowds have parted and it seems yet again it's another Singapore vs Malaysian showdown or better known here locally as The Causeway Battle.