Yahoo Finance TNC Predator win APAC Predator League Dota 2 Grand Final
Filipino Dota 2 organisation TNC Predator overcame rivals OB Esports x Neon in the finals of the 2020/2021 Asia-Pacific Predator League's Dota 2 competition on Sunday (11 April) to win the grand prize of US$50,000 and secure the first tournament victory of their new all-Filipino roster.
Both TNC and OB.Neon breezed through the first two rounds of best-of-one matches to meet in the semifinals of the tournament's double-elimination playoffs. OB.Neon made short work of TNC in to send them down to the lower bracket then defeated BOOM Esports in the next round to secure the first spot in the grand finals.
After being knocked down to the lower bracket, TNC proceeded to run through Galaxy Racer, Reckoning Esports, and BOOM Esports to force a rematch with OB.Neon in the best-of-three grand finals.
TNC started the finals strong, taking a 36-minute victory with a 30-11 lead in kills. Armel Paul "Armel" Tabios on Invoker led the way with nine kills against one death while Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte on a carry Io added seven clean kills of his own.
Game two was even more one-sided than the game one, as Gabbi's Queen of Pain rampaged through the OB.Neon lineup to secure the championship after just 29 minutes of action. Gabbi notched 20 kills against just two deaths in the closeout game with Armel on Bristleback pitching in eight kills against a single death.
With their victory, TNC secured their second Asia-Pacific Predator League title after winning their first in the second iteration of the tournament back in February 2019. Meanwhile, OB.Neon take home US$25,000 in consolation.
This is also the first championship for TNC's new all-Filipino roster. The organisation parted ways with Australian offlaner Damien "kpii" Chok and South Korean support Kim "Febby" Yong-min in early March after they finished the first season of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit's (DPC) Southeast Asian regional league in fourth place at the upper division and thus missed out on the ONE Esports Singapore Major.
TNC signed former Omega Esports players Jun "Bok" Kanehara and Marvin "Boomy" Rushton shortly after to complete their new all-Filipino roster.
TNC will be looking to bounce back in the second season of the DPC from 14 April to 20 May, where they join OB.Neon, Fnatic, T1, BOOM Esports, Execration, Lilgun, and Omega Esports in a heated to race to qualify for the next Major in June as well as secure a direct invite to The International 10 (TI10) in August.
In addition to the Dota 2 tournament, the Asia-Pacific Predator League also held a separate competition for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) that included teams from Southeast Asia, India, and Australia.
Indonesian team Eagle 365 Esports outlasted 16 other squads to take the championship and the lion's share of US$37,500 out of the US$60,000 prize pool.
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