TNC Predator’s playoff run came to an end as Pinoy mid lane Abed Azel “Abed” Yusop’s North America squad Evil Geniuses sent the Pinoys out of the AniMajor, 2-1.
With the loss, TNC’s bid for The International direct invite also draws to a close. They would end the tournament at 7th to 8th place, netting themselves $12,500, or about P597,000.
They also took home 200 DPC, to make their total 572.25, enough to be the second seed in the revamped regional qualifier for TI.
During the match, TNC shared some friendly banter with their Pinoy compatriot in EG. Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte joked with Abed (who was named by Spin.ph as one of the most influential Pinoy esports athletes of 2020) in all chat at the start of the decider.
The group also exchanged jerseys with the North American mid laner after their match.
Game 1 was a nightmare for TNC, as EG annihilated the Pinoy squad as the North American racked up 23 kills without any single death in the 19th min. Needless to say, EG rolled over TNC to end the game in 29-mins. EG’s carry Arteezy finished with a 15/0/11 KDA, while Abed finished with 7/0/20.
Game 2 was a much closer affair as TNC managed to keep up with EG 20 minutes into the game. It was a 33rd-minute team fight around EG’s jungle that saw TNC take down three of EG’s heroes and a 5k gold lead. It was this lull in EG’s lineup that allowed Armel "Armel" Tabios' Templar Assassin to free farm and take over the late game.
EG would slowly chip away at TNC lead, taking four of TNC’s heroes in team fight wins during the 36th and the 40th markers of the game. Apart from evening out the lead, EG couldn’t do much as minions continuously threatened their ancients.
A team fight at 50 minutes saw TNC lose three and threaten a high ground push. An Abed lasso pull onto Gabbi’s Dragon Kill would have sealed the deal for TNC but buybacks allowed the Pinoys to punish EG’s over aggression. Arteezy would buy back and head right back to the fight but came too late as TNC had already cleaned up his teammates bursting him right down after.
Armel would end game two with a 14/9/14 KDA, while offlaner Jun "Bok" Kanehara’s Lycan ran over EG’s lion in the early game to earn himself a 13/5/18 KDA.
The decider seemed like a repeat of Game 2 as TNC managed to hold on for 56 minutes. But their team’s lack of damage dealing heroes allowed EG’s offlane Timbersaw to just soak all of Gabbi’s Luna Eclipse. As EG’s tank soaked all of TNC’s burst, their core of Nature’s Prophet and Ember Spirit easily cleaned up TNC’s backline.
Arteezy would end Game 3 with a 10/3/13 KDA, while Abed on his Ember Spirit finished with 12/1/14.
The squad of Gabbi, Bok, Armel, Timothy "Tims" Randrup, and Marvin "Boomy" Rushton must now go through the gauntlet of the International 2021 regional qualifiers if they hope to maintain their TI appearance streak.
Later in the day, Southeast Asian squad T1 continued their run, throwing North America’s top seed Quincy Crew down to the lower bracket. 2-1.
The team, led by Pinoy captain Carlo “Kuku” Palad, bucked an 8K lead in the decider to secure themselves a top-three finish in the WePlay AniMajor.
It was Thai carry Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, who once again led the team in the comeback, cleaning up Quincy Crew’s heroes in the 37th-minute high ground push to win the game in 39 minutes.
Pinoy mid laner Karl “Karl” Baldovino’s Sand King and Indonesian support Kenny “Xepher” Deo’s Winter Wyvern also managed some crucial engages with the burrow strike and winters curse to kick-off the massive comeback.
With the win, T1 advances to the upper bracket finals where they’ll face Chinese powerhouse PSG.LGD for an outright grand finals appearance.
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