Kim "Gabbi" Santos and Armel "Armel" Tabios spearheaded TNC Predator's 2-0 sweep of Vietnam's 496 Gaming to regain the third spot in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC)-Southeast Asia upper division on Saturday night.
Gabbi, the 11K MMR star carry of the Filipino powerhouse team, wreaked havoc with his super farmed Alchemist as he led the TNC’s come-from-behind 26-17 victory in Game 1.
With Sange and Yasha, Swift Blink and Assault Cuirass, Gabbi cut through 496's heroes en route to 14 kills and seven assists against two early deaths.
It was 11K MMR midlaner Armel's turn to grab the spotlight with his Death Prophet powering TNC to a one-sided 40-17 win in the 36-minute Game 2.
Armel came through with 16 kills on top of 16 assists against a lone death while Gabbi's Morphling also did its job with 15 kills and seven assists with two deaths.
The swift sweep catapulted TNC back to No. 3 in the eight-team upper division with a 4-2 record and winner-over-the-other upperhand against T1 (4-2).
It was also a warning shot ahead of its crucial "SEA El Clasico" tussle versus bitter rival and league leader Fnatic (5-1) on February 24.
Meanwhile, in the lower division, Cignal Ultra wasted its chance to be promoted as it surrendered a 2-0 decision to Malaysia's Galaxy Racer.
Cignal, which closed its campaign with a 4-3 slate, was not able to follow in the footsteps of Smart Omega (5-1) which is set to be elevated in the upper division at the end of the season.