SE Asia powerhouse, TNC Predator, suffered an embarrassing defeat at the SEA Upper Division of DPC 2021 with a clean sweep by Execration. They were one of SEA’s most hyped up teams. Yet their opener left much to be desired.
A new captain and win at BTS Season 4 had fans looking forward to a TNC dominating run in the DPC season. After a disappointing Week 1, can TNC Predator bounce back?
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Last week, TNC Predator kicked off their DPC debut with a match against Execration. Execration is a team that qualified for the Upper Division, and expectations were not high before the match. Yet, Execration pulled off an 80 minute upset, showcasing overwhelming dominance over their opponent.
In the first game, Execration opted for the classic late-game Medusa carry with heavy disable heroes, such as Mars, Nyx Assassin and Batrider. The barrage of stuns proved to be too fatal for both Paul “Armel” Tabios and Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte to handle. Despite TNC’s elusive hero choices, Execration performed an incredible job, yet fingers were quickly pointed towards the Predator draft choices. Timothy John “Tims” Randrup, was given an Io hero pick, and it was evident that he had trouble staying alive in team fights, let alone make game-winning plays.
TNC Predator’s former coach, Kim “Febby” Yong-min now serves as a player and team captain. Febby took up the role as the captain shortly after Park “March” Tae-won left the team.
Despite not playing competitively for multiple seasons, Febby kept himself updated with the latest updates and viable meta. Having Febby as captain of TNC Predator seemed like a great idea on paper. He even led TNC Predator to the BTS Pro Series Season 4 trophy only a month back. It was his first appearance as an active TNC Predator player, and it concluded with commendable success.
Unfortunately, all that occurred amidst the Mistwoods Update, a period when the competitive Dota 2 scene was still dumbfounded by what Aghanim’s Shards are. Basically, Febby’s first-ever victory in 2020 might just have been a fluke.
Regardless, the captain is now stuck trying to recover a bad start for his team in Week 2 of the SEA DPC Season.
Week 2 will be instrumental for TNC Predator’s chances at making the Major this spring. Today they get to meet arguably the “worst” team in the competition in Vice Esports. If they squad fails to connect a clear victory their chances and hopes of getting out are slim to none. Even tougher is their next opponent in Neon Esports who are coming in hot fater besting both BOOM Esports and 496 in Week 1.
Atleast one of the two matchups has to end up with a victory for TNC if they are to compete for a spot in the major. Looking at the Dota 2 odds over at GG.BET, TNC is favored in both match ups with them being clear favorites in the matchup versus VICE. If you like to bet agaisnt the grain and have your faith in them shaken you can get a 5.32x return on a bet on Vice Esports in this matchup.
Its going to be a crucial week for TNC Predator at the DPC SEA 2021 Season 1, and their two matches should be a must watch for anyone hoping the 2020 rankings leader performs well.
Read next: DPC 2021 Season 1 expectations and a look at the regional favorites
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