By John Christopher G. Aquino
Fnatic battled its way to The International 10 after coming from behind to frustrate all-Filipino TNC.Predator.
Filipinos Marc “Raven” Fausto, Djardel “Dj” Mampusti, Malaysian Ng Kee Chyuan, Thai Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong, and Singaporean Yang “Deth” Wu Heng secured a ticket to The International 10, where they have the chance at the $40 million prize pool and a stake at the coveted Aegis of the Immortal.
TNC.Predator dominated the scoreboard with an early 2-0 advantage with a Game 1 heavily favoring the Filipinos as Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte’s Ursa and Armel Tabios’ Templar Assassin slayed Fnatic members left and right in a lopsided 36-minute victory.
Game 2 saw the same result for TNC.Predator as Gabbi’s Phantom Assassin was too much to handle for Fnatic as the match ended with an Ultra Kill for Gabbi on the top lane of the Radiant base. Fnatic was unable to capitalize off its Roshan kill advantage.
It was a complete turnaround for Fnatic from there, though, as it turned the tides against TNC.Predator in Game 3, with Raven’s Terrorblade and ChYuan’s Death Prophet posing problems for the Filipinos in the pushing and damage departments.
Game 4 was a lopsided victory for Fnatic as Raven’s Terrorblade saw a second appearance, dominating the field as TNC.Predator could not keep up with the damage output of the opposing team.
The series closed in Game 5, with Fnatic’s dominant laning phase and Raven’s Axe performing well, ending the game with 18 kills and zero deaths.
“FNATIC HAS DONE IT! With the reverse sweep, we qualify to The International 10! Massive thanks to all Fnatics who put their faith to our team, this #panatikvictory is all for you. We will see you in August! #TI10” wrote the team’s Twitter in celebration of the victory.
It was the first time in five years that TNC.Predator will miss The International.
With the victory, Fnatic’s Raven and DJ will join the ranks of their fellow Filipinos EG’s Abed Yusop, T1’s Carlo “Kuku” Palad and Karl Jayme who will all fight for the Aegis this coming August.
