Cover-Credits:
TNC Predator has announced its new Dota 2 lineup that features the return of former coach and captain, Kim "Febby" Yong-min. As position five and the captain of the new TNC Predator team, Febby will lead a group of young and high-ranking players from Southeast Asia (SEA). TNC Predator posted on Twitter that it decided to move in a different direction by bringing in young players after a long time span of fielding a team full of high-profile players. The team will now participate in the SEA regional league of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021-22.
Febby returns in TNC Predator’s new Dota 2 lineup
TNC Predator stated that it decided to take the same approach of fielding a young roster under the guidance of a veteran leader, as it did earlier around 2016 and 2017. The approach worked well back then and the organization hopes to achieve the same results again.
TNC Predator’s Dota 2 roster for the first regional league of the DPC 2021-22:
Levi "Young God" Lagaret
Yuri Dave "Yowe" Pacaña
Lee "X1aOyU" Qian Yu
Prieme Ejay "PlayHard" Banquil
Kim "Febby" Yong-min
“The road may be tough for us this season but we believe that with the right mindset, attitude, and discipline, our team will be able to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the region and eventually in the global stage,” wrote TNC Predator.
At the start of 2020, Febby joined TNC Predator as a coach, and then he became a player at the start of the DPC in 2021. Due to the team's failure to qualify for the first Major, TNC Predator expressed a desire for an all-Filipino roster, which led to Febby's departure. He then coached Team Undying at The International 10 (TI10).
In the DPC 2021, Yowe and PlayHard showcased their potential with Execration and OB.Neon respectively. Despite a modest first league campaign, Execration strengthened its credentials in the second season to qualify for the WePlay Major. Execration could not overcome the stacked wild card of the AniMajor, but Yowe was praised for his mid lane skills. On the other side, PlayHard was an essential part of OB.Neon for a long time. The team finally broke through the tier 2 shambles by qualifying for the Singapore Major and displayed their strength by finishing 5th-6th.
For Young God, who hails from the Philippines, TNC Predator will be his first major team as he has not played at the highest level yet. At the time of writing this article, he is ranked in the top 50 of the Dota 2 SEA MMR Leaderboards. X1aOyU is a 20-year-old Malaysian player who played for teams such as ZeroTwo and Team Mystery during the previous season.
After parting ways with a roster that comprised some of the best players in SEA, TNC Predator has chosen a new roster that is largely composed of players who have not proven themselves yet at the professional level. It will be interesting to see how the team performs when it begins its journey in the Upper Division of the SEA regional league at the end of this month.
