Former captain and hard support Kim "Febby" Yong Min revealed that TNC Predator is looking at forming an all-Filipino roster anew for the second Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season to avoid problems caused by the pandemic.
"TNC back to full Pinoy team? Yes," Febby said in his latest video posted on his YouTube channel FebbyTV late Thursday night, March 4.
"They wanna make an all-Pinoy roster. With the coronavirus, it's been on their mind for a long time," added the 28-year-old South Korean veteran in his video titled "Back to being Jobless.. #TNC" wherein he played with ex-teammate Kim "QO" Sun Yeob.
Manila Bulletin reached out to TNC management to confirm or deny Febby's claim but opted not to give a comment.
Febby and offlaner Damien "Kpii" Chok parted ways with the Filipino powerhouse team on Wednesday, March 3, nearly a week after failing to qualify for the Singapore Major which will be hosted by ONE Esports and PGL on March 27 to April 4 at the Fairmont Singapore.
With the Korean support Febby and the 27-year-old Australian offlaner Kpii struggling with ping issues as they were playing in their respective homes due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, TNC went on a shaky campaign in the DPC-Southeast Asia Upper Division.
Eventually, the team failed to live up to expectations as it fell short of making it to the first Major of 2021 after finishing fourth with a 4-3 record.
Despite getting released, Febby said all is well between him and TNC wherein he served as a coach then a captain for more than one year.
"I'm still on good terms with the TNC guys," said Febby, who helped the team win the online tournaments ESL One Thailand 2020 and BTS Pro Series SEA Season 4.
Kpii, who suited up for TNC for nearly two years, was saddened by the development as well but the former standout of The International 2017 runner-up Newbee still expressed his gratitude.
"Sad that we were finally seeing light in the pandemic and there were glimmers of hope in our reunion as a team. Unfortunate but life goes on," Kpii said via Twitter shortly after the announcement.
"Thank you for everything. And now LFT (looking for team)."
The Filipino trio of carry Kim "Gabbi" Santos, midlaner Armel Paul "Armel" Tabios and position-4 support Timothy "Tims" Randrup remain in the organization that was the last Southeast Asian rep to win a Major in November 2019 in Chengdu, China.
TNC last featured an all-Filipino roster back in The International 2019 when it still had offlaner Carlo "Kuku" Palad and captain-hard support Nico "eyyou" Barcelon.