Timothy Randrup, more commonly known in-game name as "Tims," will be the first Filipino to grace The International's All-Star game.
Randrup, who plays the roaming support role for all-Pinoy team TNC Predator, was named as one of the 10 esports players taking part in the star-studded exhibition match on Saturday.
He will join Team Secret carry Michal "Nisha" Jankowski, Team Liquid carry Amer "Miracle" Al-Barkawi, Newbee support Johan "pieliedie" Åström, and PSG.LGD Midlaner Lu "Somnus" Yao.
They are set to face midlaner Syed Sumail "Sumail" Hassan of EG, support Akbar "Sonneiko" Butaev of Navi, carry Roman "Ramzes666" Kushnarev of Virtus.Pro, support Ding "Dy" Cong of Vici Gaming, and carry Michael "miCKe" Vu of Alliance.
This year's All-Star Match is also different in that all of the participants were chosen based on fantasy points. This means that each player qualified through their respective stellar performances and team results from the Group Stage.
Randrup has established himself as one of the smartest Dota 2 players in the tournament so far, with 200 IQ play after 200 IQ play on their way to a solid finish. His Skywrath Mage and Earthshaker picks against Team Liquid spelled the difference for TNC and gave them the final Upper Bracket slot in the group.
Aside from the new criteria, TI9's All-Star battle will be an All-Random Death Match between players unaware of their heroes and roles before the game begins.
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