Image Sourced from TNC Predator
Asia Pro League, where some of the best teams in SEA and China competed for the lion’s share of the ~$36,000 prizepool, concluded today with a 3-0 sweep from EHOME over the previously undefeated TNC Predators.
Although the game score tells a story of a super dominant EHOME, the truth is that the faith_bian lead Chinese Powerhouse was highly contested by TNC Predator, who had some rather impressive performances.
The Grand Finals of the Asia Pro League begins later with us taking on EHOME in a best of five series! Wish us luck as we vie for the championship!#RiseofthePhoenix#SummonYourStrength#NimoTV pic.twitter.com/Gv7sp8Jizg
— TNC Predator (@TNCPredator) October 15, 2018
Game one saw a fairly even start, with both teams finding core kills early on, but it was EHOME who begun to stretch the advantage and show their strength as the game went on. With Luo "sea mew" Bin on the virtually unkillable Gyrocopter, the Chinese squad used their early game advantage to secure the map and hold on to the control and constantly kill off their opponents. While TNC Predator attempted to fight back and hold the game until their Bloodseeker and Faceless Void were decently farmed, they could not fight against the EHOME pressure. When they went for an all-in play, attempting to smoke gank the Gyro-IO combo, a suspicious Puppey pause occurred after which the fight ended in an absolute disaster.
By 35 minutes, EHOME were already dropping TNC’s barracks in the bot lane and after a few more minutes and a few more deaths, TNC Predator threw in the towel.
Game two was much more action-packed and went back and forth for 41 minutes with Li “ASD” Zhiwen stealing the show with his mid lane Legion Commander. He farmed himself 338 Bonus Damage, after managing to find several pickoffs all across the map right from the get-go. Even though TNC Predator had Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte on Mirana and Armel “Armel” Tabios on Kunkka they were unable to hold off EHOME’s push, or fight back and allowed their adversaries to go 2 up in the series.
Game three was a must win for TNC Predator if they wanted any hope to claim the Asia Pro League Title. An extremely close early game would see both teams fighting constantly, as they both attempted to find pick offs Once again though, it was EHOME who started to come out ahead, finding crucial kills constantly as they moved closer and closer to the win. While TNC Predator did manage to overcome an overwhelming 21k lead.
A huge mistake from Gabbi on the Faceless Void: jumping into the Roshan Pit after the Aegis was taken, and not using the Chronosphere cost TNC Predator the game, the series and the championship. As they called GG, giving the 3rd and final game of The Asia Pro League to EHOME.
While the Asia Pro League might have ultimately ended in a disaster for TNC Predator, there are still plenty of positives to take away from their performance. They were quite impressive throughout the Group Stages and the playoffs, not dropping a single game until the Grand Finals. But they’ll have the chance to redeem themselves in just a few days when the team will participate at their first LAN tournament after TI8 in the WESG Philippine Finals, competing against Neon Esports for a place at the World Electronic Sports Games 2018 Southeast Asia Finals.