Almost 10 months have passed since TNC Predator won MDL Chengdu Major 2019. Their 2020 season has been touch and go with only minor spurts of excellence in play. In fact, the team has not had any top placement to speak of in this entire season.
Finally, ESL One Thailand 2020 is where the Predators decided to strike, topping their group and the Playoffs R1 match. They now await BOOM Esports at the Upper Bracket final.
TNC Predator’s story at ESL One Thailand
TNC Predator got sent into Group A at ESL One Thailand next to BOOM, Fnatic, MTG, Trust, and Adroit. They weren’t really expected to perform well considering they have performed horribly against every opponent in this group. They lost the opener to Adroit at WeSave! Charity Play, twice to Fnatic at BTS Pro Series: Southeast Asia and ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League and once to each of the opponents at ESL One Birmingham 2020.
When it mattered most, TNC has always dropped the ball.
Something shifted within the squad over the past month, however. Over the past twelve days, TNC played six best-of-three series and was dominating in every single one of them. They only dropped the ball once versus their arch-nemesis Fnatic, yet even then, they dragged a game out for 66 minutes before finally dropping a series.
The match they have to win to reach the finals is against BOOM Esports a team they just beat 2 days ago in dominating fashion.
One potential challenger remains
There aren’t many teams in South East Asia or Asia as a whole that can challenge TNC. At ESL One Thailand 2020 we could only consider Geek Fam, Fnatic, and potentially BOOM Esports as potential challengers.
Luckily, Fnatic took care of Geek Fam and BOOM is next on the chopping block for TNC, leaving one true outcome for the final: Fnatic versus TNC Predator for the crown.
Taking their previous match in the Group Stages into consideration, we can expect a banger of a final if it comes true.
Based on our expectations we also predict the following match outcomes for those interested in Dota 2 Betting: (Winners marked in BOLD)
T1 vs Neon Esports @ 1.59
Sparking Arrow Gaming vs Fnatic @ 1.57
BOOM vs TNC Predator @ 1.47
Combined odds: x3.67 @ GG.Bet
Matches at ESL One Thailand 2020 are set to continue September 3, 2020 – 08:00 CEST at twitch.tv/esl_dota2
