TNC Predator went on a colossal meltdown as Polo "Raven" Fausto and Fnatic completed a 3-2 reverse stunner to grab the coveted The International 10 (TI10) spot on Saturday night, July 3.
TNC squandered away a 2-0 series lead as its former carry Raven spearheaded Fnatic's charge to three straight victories capped by a beyond godlike performance on Axe in the winner-takes-all Game 5.
The Filipino 11K MMR star position-1 came through with a seamless record of 18 kills and 12 assists, although it was dominant team display from the Malaysia-based powerhouse team that resulted in a 38-12 rout in just 34 minutes.
Fnatic secured its eighth consecutive appearance in TI and joined Carlo "Kuku" Palad's T1 as SEA representatives in the 10th edition of the Dota 2 world championship that boasts of the largest prize pool in esports history at $40 million (almost P2 billion).
Sadly, the all-Filipino TNC will miss the TI for the first time since its remarkable 7th-8th finish in the sixth iteration.
TNC actually came out hot right off the gates with Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte's Ursa and Armel "Armel" Tabios' Templar Assassin sparking the 29-8 stomp in the series opener in just 36 minutes--way shorter than the 64-minute average duration of their upper bracket tussle.
Gabbi on his signature Phantom Assassin almost singlehandedly carried TNC to a gutsy 56-minute victory for a commanding 2-0 series lead as he racked up an 18-3-10 kill-death-assist and dished out 72.7K damage.
However, Fnatic did not want to go silently into the night as Raven's Terrorblade (9-0-10) and Yang "Deth" Wu Heng's Pangolier (6-0-10) powered their 27-13 romp in 43 minutes in Game 3.
Fnatic forced the do-or-die match with a dominant 32-13 win in the 44-minute Game 4 behind Ng "ChYuan" Kee Chyuan's Ember Spirit (12-0-13) and Djardel "Dj" Mampusti's Abbadon (4-5-19) providing so much sustain plus disable removal.
It was all Raven's Axe and the rest of the Fnatic crew from there as they sustained their furious start in Game 5 and never allowed Gabbi's Spectre to go into late game.