When TNC Predator first announced changes to its Dota 2 roster after The International 2019, there were those who were wary of the team's future. However, its performance in the recently concluded ESL One Hamburg 2019 is sure to have put any doubts to rest. TNC took home the top spot and $125,000 in prize money. To say that TNC won the tournament would understate it, as the Southeast Asian Dota 2 team dominated the tournament.
TNC's entry to the tournament was through a direct invite. By then the team's new roster was composed of Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte, Armel Paul "Armel" Tabios, Damien "kpii" Chok, Timothy "Tims" Randrup, and Park "March" Tae-won.
In the Group Stage, the team was in Group B, which also featured:
- Gambit Esports
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Quincy Crew
- Team Liquid
- Wind and Rain
Over the course of a three-day period, TNC came out on top of the standings, experiencing only one 1-1 score against Wind and Rain, with all the other games ending in a 2-0 score. This gave TNC a spot in the Upper Bracket.
In the Playoffs, TNC first played against Alliance. That match went in favor of TNC, with Gabbi getting the best of the opponents on both games. In the first game Gabbi racked up eight kills on Leshrac, and 10 kills on Night Stalker in game two. This meant that TNC moved forward to the Upper Bracket Finals.
Here TNC faced off against Gambit, a team that it had beaten 2-0 during the Group Stage. In the first game Gabbi was again on Night Stalker and displayed excellent performance with 11 kills and zero deaths. Gambit as a team could only muster six kills. The game didn't even last 30 minutes. In the second game, Gabbi went for his Leshrac with Armel in the mid lane deciding to use the Alchemist. It wasn't as easy this time around, but while Gambit gave it their best, it was still TNC in the end. The win gave TNC a Grand Finals slot and a secured at least a second-place finish.
The Lower Bracket finals featured Alliance versus Gambit. While Alliance took the first game, it was Gambit who won on the succeeding two games to secure the Finals appearance. This meant the Grad Finals was a rematch of the Upper Bracket Finals. Given what had happened in the tournament so far, there were expectations that the Grand Finals would be short. However, that wouldn't be the case.
In the first game, TNC won on the performance of both Gabii and Armel. In the second game TNC initially had the lead, but Gambit wasn't going to let it go the way it had before. The game exceeded 40 minutes with Gambit taking the win on superb performances by Kiyalbek "dream" Tayirov on on Gyrocopter with six kills and Danil "gpk" Skutin on Ember Spirit with 12 kills. Both players also had zero deaths. Overall, Gambit had 36 team kills against TNC's 5.
In the third game Armel dominated on Templar Assassin. While TNC took this game, Gambit managed to score a win for the fourth game with gpk on Lina.
This lead to a fifth and final game. The previous three games had taken more than 40 minutes, and this being the deciding game meant that the series continued. TNC, however, proved to be too much for Gambit as the SEA team closed out the tournament in under 30 minutes.
With that, TNC was declared the champion and took home the top prize. Up next for TNC is the MDL Chengdu Major, the first major tournament in the new DPC season.
