TNC Predator halted its five-game losing streak with a much-needed 2-0 victory over OB Esports X Neon in the DPC SEA Winter Tour action on Wednesday, Jan. 12
The lowly TNC pumped some life to its hopes to retain its Division 1 spot with a convincing sweep of OB.Neon which was coming off a huge 2-1 upset victory over T1 last week.
The PH-based esports team notched its first victory in six games to improve to a 1-5 win-loss record.
With its back against the wall, TNC banked on the efforts of Filipino Levi “YoungGod” Lagaret and Malaysian Lee Qian “Xiaoyu” Yu in its convincing 40-25 Game 1 win. Xiaoyu spearheaded the attack on the Viper with an 11-5-14 showing while YoungGod backstopped him with a 10-2-15 performance on the Phantom Assassin.
TNC made sure to finally end the dry spell in the second game as Yuri Dave “Yowe” Pacaña and YoungGod joined hands in dealing OB.Neon a 21-10 domination in the second game.
Yowe dictated the pace with a 10-2-9 line on Ember Spirit while YoungGod’s fine play carried on to the series clincher as he unloaded a perfect 8-0-5 score on the Wraith King to give TNC its first win in the season since it went on a rebuild in the off-season.
TNC’s fate however still hangs in the balance as it would need to win its last assignment against Team SMG and hope that the other teams ahead of it lose their remaining games to forge a possible three-way or four-way tie at the bottom of the standings.
A loss to SMG or an Execration and Motivate.Trust Gaming victory will relegate TNC to the Division II.
Meanwhile, T1 completed a 2-0 sweep against Execration to close the gap with the league-leading Boom Esports in the standings. The International 10 representatives improved to a 4-1 record behind stellar showings from Thai player Nuengnara “23Savage” Teeramahanon and Filipino Karl “Karl” Jayme.
23Savage led the way in the Game 1 38-10 romp with a 16-3-11 line on the Phantom Assassin while Karl added 10-3-12 KDA on the Ember Spirit.
T1 then dispatched the all-Filipino Exe team with a tight 22-21 Game 2 triumph. It was actually Execration which held the lead for the most part of the game before T1 engineered a comeback behind Karl who finished with a 13-1-5 line on his Puck in the series clinching win.