TNC Pro Team showed its might heading to the MPL Philippines Season 8 as it sparked a fiery lower bracket run capped by a sweet 3-0 sweep of ArkAngel SM in the grand finals to rule the Juicy Legends Tournament 2021 Quarter 3 Professional Division on Sunday night, August 8.
TNC, which bought a franchise slot in the upcoming MPL-PH Season 8 and acquired the core of Work Auster Force along with other league veterans, immediately made its presence felt in the Mobile Legends pro scene by emerging victorious right in its first tourney.
The boys in black and orange started the day with a vengeful 2-0 victory over SV Empire in the lower bracket semifinals of the competition backed by Juicy Lemon and sanctioned by the Games and Amusement Board.
Come the lower bracket finals, TNC pulled off a stunning 2-1 reverse sweep against title favorite Smart Omega composed of the former Execration roster that won the MSC 2021 and finished runner-up in the last MPL season.
It was a shocking come-from-behind triumph for TNC in the deciding Game 3, clawing its way back despite losing all its towers and coming through with the right plays in the crucial stretch, including a three-man pickoff and a Luminous Lord kill to seal the upset win.
With so much momentum on their side, coach Lauren "Lift" Ruiz's boys went on to swiftly gun down ArkAngel in the championship round.
After losing 2-1 to SV Empire in the upper bracket first round, TNC whipped up a Cinderella run in the loser's bracket by taking down Aether Esports (2-0), Anarchy (2-1), SV Empire and Omega.
TNC is surely pumped up ahead of its debut season in Moonton's professional league, which was supposed to start on August 13 but was unforunately postponed to a yet to be announced date due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila.
Besides TNC and Omega, Echo (formerly Aura PH) was the other MPL team that joined the preseason tilt.
Previous Juicy Legends champion and defending MPL titlist Blacklist International did not participate in the tournament.