T1, led by Filipino skipper Carlo “Kuku” Palad, fought its way into the upper bracket with its 2-0 This allowed Palad’s squad to move up to fourth position in Group A of The International 10 group stage, pushed them into the best-of-three Round 1 main event.
The good fortune of this South Korean team (formerly known as SK Telecom T1) came as Abed “Abed” Yusop’s Evil Geniuses stunned fans when they suddenly fell out of contention for the upper bracket encounters.
EG slipped to sixth spot in Group A after a 1-1 draw with Team Undying and was relegated to the lower bracket.
The 25-year-old Palad, now the skipper of T1 since joining the team last January, used the Necrophos character in their two encounters with TP.
Thunder Predator has been eliminated from the tournament after taking 16 straight losses.
The Necrophos is a ranged intelligence hero most effective in team fights where he can damage enemies and heal allies simultaneously, while picking off key enemy heroes with his ultimate weapon.
Palad, who is the former coach of Omega Esports, is seeking to lead T1 to its third title this year, after getting involved in T1’s conquests in the ESL One Summer 2021 and the Dota Pro Circuit 2021, particularly the Southeast Asian Division.
T1’s fortunes reversed after they bounced back from 0-2 losses to Invictus Gaming, and the Evil Geniuses in the four-day best-of-two series of the Group Stage.
Palad and teammates, which also includes Pinoy gamer Karl Baldovino, Kenny Deo and Matthew Filemon, then swept their B02 affairs with Virtus.pro, OG, Team Aster, Alliance and Team Undying to end up in fourth spot in Group A with their 10-6 win-loss record.
Invictus Gaming remained in front at 14-2, followed by Virtus.pro (11-5) and OG at 10-6.
Team Undying (9-7) is in fifth, followed by the Evil Geniuses (9-7), Team Aster (9-7), and Alliance (4-12). All have been relegated to the lower bracket.
Fnatic, which has Pinoy gamer Marco Polo Luis Fausto in its lineup, pulled off a 2-0 win over Team Secret, but still finished seventh in Group B.
Since Palad turned pro in 2015, he has since earned around $800,072 in winnings for teams that he has joined.
T1 will go up against PSG.LGD in the best-of-three upper bracket clashes this Tuesday.