The first major of the season has concluded and TNC Predator has emerged victorious, claiming the Battlefury trophy as they beat Vici Gaming 3-1 to win their first-ever major title in Dota 2.
It was almost a perfect run for TNC Predator, going unbeaten in group stages and powering right through to the upper bracket final where they were finally inflicted with their first series defeat of the tournament. The team beat Invictus Gaming in the lower bracket final to set up a rematch with Vici Gaming where they would stomp in game one and game two. TNC Predator closed out the series in a closely fought game four, where Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte’s Morphling would combo with Park “March” Tae-Won’s Earthshaker in order to surmount a huge 50k gold swing and turn the tide of the game on their way to winning the whole tournament.
That morph/shaker… what a fight from @TNCPredator! #MDLChengdu
📺: https://t.co/VZnt4kO1Z3 pic.twitter.com/hZZrIW1Mgh
— BTS Dota (@BTSdota) November 24, 2019
The SEA squad had seen changes after TI9 with Carlo “Kuku” Palad and Nico “Eyyou” Barcelon leaving the squad to be replaced by March and TI7 runner-up Damien “kpii” Chok. They’ve since gone on a tear, winning every event they have taken part in so far this season. This includes winning the WESG Philippines Finals 2019, finishing first in the qualifiers for the major and taking the title of ESL One Hamburg 2019.
Winning this major almost guarantees TNC Predator will be attending TI10 as a direct invite with only four majors remaining this season. However, this does not mean that they will be taking their feet off the gas, with qualifiers for the Dreamleague Season 13 in Leipzig starting on November 28.
This represents the first time TNC Predator has won a DPC Major event and the first time since the 2018 Dota Asia Championship that a team from the SEA region has won a DPC Major event.
With the big Outlanders patch expected to be released within the next week, teams will have to learn and adapt to new mechanics and changes within the game that could disrupt the style and form of the team, but right now TNC Predator is on fire and continue to go from strength to strength.
