TNC Predator saw its three-game winning start to the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Season 2-Southeast Asia Upper Division end as the Carlo "Kuku" Palad-led T1 pulled off a 2-1 reverse sweep on Saturday night, May 1.
Several Dota fans accused TNC of throwing--in layman's terms, intentionally losing--the match with the odds, both figuratively and literally, heavily favoring the all-Filipino powerhouse team.
Midlaner Armel "Armel" Tabios just shrugged off the allegations and laughed it off with offlaner Jun "Bok Kanehara.
"Wala eh. Kapag natalo ganun talaga 'yung ano (comments) eh. Wala ka naman masasabi sa mga tao (It's just like that when we lose)," said Armel in the post-match press conference streamed through TNC's Facebook page.
TNC drew first blood in the series in a dominant fashion, posting a 26-9 rout of T1 in 35 minutes behind Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte's Bristleback.
Gabbi and the gang actually got off to a strong start in Game 2 but a disastrous team fight near the Roshan in the 15th minute saw Kuku's Timber snatching away the Aegis of Immortal from Armel's Leshrac before hitting a triple kill marked TNC's downward spiral.
The same story went in Game 3 as TNC once again controlled the early game but Thai carry Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon's Medusa with Aghanim's Scepter and Shard rendered its supposed counter in Outworld Devourer of Gabbi useless heading into the late game.
Filipino midlaner Karl "Karl" Jayme also stepped up with his Storm Spirit to help T1 bounce back from a 2-1 loss to Boom Esports last Thursday.
Bok said they anticipated T1's Medusa pick but their strategy to counter it just didn't work out as planned.
"May binago kaming ban tapos plinano namin na if ever i-pick nila 'yung Medusa, ito 'yung hero namin. So parang alam naman namin na pi-pick sila ng Medusa. Either sila 'yung pi-pick or kami yung pi-pick dapat (We tweaked our bans and planned our heroes if ever they pick Medusa. We were kind of expecting that they would pick Medusa. It's either them or us who will pick it)."
Despite tasting its first defeat, TNC remained atop the Upper Division at the end of Week 3 with a 3-1 series win-loss record.
For its part, T1 moved to the middle of the eight-team standings, joining Smart Omega at No. 4 with an identical 2-2 slate.
The top three teams at the end of the regional league will advance to the second Major of the year and earn a chunk of DPC points needed to qualify for The International 10.