After a grueling season and falling short of qualifying for the much-awaited The International 10 (TI10), TNC Predator has decided to take some time off competitive Dota.
The leading Filipino Dota 2 team, composed of Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte (carry), Armel "Armel" Tabios (mid laner), Jun "Bok" Kanehara (offlaner), Timothy "Tims" Randrup (position-4 support) and Marvin "Boomy" Rushton (captain-support), made the announcement through its official Facebook page on Monday, July 26.
"We like to announce that our team, TNC Predator, will take its time to recharge and realign for the next TI season. A lot has happened since the pandemic breakout and we want the players to use this time to be with their families, take a much needed break and build the best versions of themselves as preparations for the next big fight," it said in a statement.
"You guys won't be seeing any Dota action from us anytime soon but we will be taking the support role for the remaining Filipino players and Southeast Asia teams competing for the TI10 Aegis."
TNC came agonizingly close to making it to the $40 million (nearly P2 billion) TI10 after grabbing a 2-0 lead over Southeast Asian rival Fnatic in the grand finals of the regional qualifiers earlier this month.
However, Filipino star carry Polo "Raven" Fausto, a former TNC standout, led a 3-2 reverse sweep for Fnatic which also features Filipino captain Djardel "Dj" Mampusti.
With the painful defeat, the all-Filipino powerhouse squad missed the TI for the first time since its remarkable 7th-8th finish in the 2016 edition.
Prior to the TI10 SEA Qualifier, TNC landed at the top eight in the WePlay AniMajor to earn a total of 572.25 Dota Pro Circuit points but those were not enough to secure them an invite to this year's world championship that boasts of the largest prize pool in esports history.
The PH team came second in the DPC Season 2 SEA league wherein a loss to the erstwhile winless Lilgun proved costly in its bid to get a direct invite to TI.
TNC said it will still deliver content about the upcoming TI which was moved from Sweden to Romania in October and thanked its avid fans.
"The fire is still burning and we are still together in working to achieve the dream of becoming one of the TI champions. We will work to make you guys proud once more."
Nevertheless, fans of the organization can still look forward to TNC's Mobile Legends: Bang Bang team in the upcoming MPL Philippines Season 8 slated to start on August 13.