TNC Pro Team will return to The International with an all-Filipino cast
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The season was supposed to be over for TNC Pro Team.
I could already imagine how the obligatory “We’ll come back stronger” post of the team’s official Facebook page would be pestered with comments from the Phoenix Army, TNC Pro Team’s ever-loyal fan base, ranting how the organization should have kicked SamH a long time ago or how Kuku should have stayed as their midlaner or how they won’t be able to achieve anything without a veteran team captain.
You see, if you’re a Filipino who witnessed the rise of the Phoenix at the World Electronic Sports Games 2016 and at The International 2016 when they pulled off the greatest upset in the history of competitive Dota 2 against OG, you subconsciously associate them into something unbeatable. I mean sure, they can lose, but beating them down is just impossible.
Then one unsuspecting day, you suddenly see them struggling to defend their hopes of returning to The International, the annual Dota 2 world championship, against the two-lane Super Creeps of TNC Tigers, their sister team which is composed of rising Southeast Asian stars who significantly have less international exposure, experience, and fan base compared to them—except of course for their ex-captain 1437.
Since TNC Pro Team started qualifying to the The International in 2016, the latest regional qualifier was the first and only one they failed to top. It was a bad qualifier compared to their first two, but their whole Dota Pro Circuit season was actually worse. Sure, they were able to maintain their title as one of the region’s kings, but compared to Mineski-Dota and Fnatic Dota, TNC Pro Team objectively has the smallest jurisdiction.
TNC Pro Team undeniably had the worst season of their careers. And even though they achieved the impossible come back against TNC Tigers’ seemingly insurmountable 24k gold deficit to steal the region’s final slot to The International 2018, it is still the worst season of their careers.
There are a lot of factors why the past season turned out to be the worst one for the Phoenix—inability to adapt to the meta, intensified competition in the region, roster shuffle, etc.—but none of those matter now because they were still able to achieve every Dota 2 teams’ goal: attend The International. Better yet, TNC Pro Team achieved every Dota 2 teams’ goal with the greatest version of their roster.
TNC Pro Team will be attending their third straight The International with a lot of firsts:
- First time as the last Southeast Asian team to qualify
- First time with Armel as their midlaner
- First time without guidance from an internationally-renowned veteran
- First time with Kuku at the helm
- First time as an all-Filipino lineup
Out of these five firsts, one is bad, four are good, and three are the reasons why the best TNC Pro Team will perform at The International 2018.
When TNC Pro Team found success with DeMoN and 1437, the go-to statement whenever someone is talking about a Filipino Dota 2 team was “Filipino Dota 2 players have talent but lack leadership”. It’s a reasonable claim, although not entirely true. Before this season, the last time TNC Pro Team competed with an all-Filipino lineup was a year ago—when they won the WESG 2016. Additionally, in the two years that Execration was able to attend The International, they had the fabled Filipino captain Kimo leading them.
TNC Pro Team doesn’t owe all their success to the leadership skills of DeMoN and 1437. In all honesty, eyyou had that. What we should laud is not their supervision, it’s the experience and fresh insights about the game that they were able to impart to the Filipino players.
When I envision a TNC Pro Team that is captained by DeMoN or 1437, what I see is a mechanically-operated team that is driven to kill. On the other hand, when I picture in my mind the TNC Pro Team that will compete at The International 2018, what I see is a warm group of friends that share the same dream—lift the Aegis of Champions together.
If you’re worried about Kuku’s leadership skills, don’t. He has already proven his ability as a captain by leading TNC Pro Team in the most important best-of-three of their season to redeem his squad from a lackluster Dota Pro Circuit. He may still lack experience compared to the likes of Kuroky and Puppey, but it’s okay because that’s already a matter of time.
TNC Pro Team will enter The International 2018 with the same underdog vibe they have when they played at The International 2016. We won’t be entirely surprised if they were prematurely eliminated, because they have been off most of the season. But they are also not far from pulling off something historic like they did two years ago.
Only this time, they will be doing it with an all-Filipino lineup, and with Kuku as their captain.
