TNC Predator vs Invictus Gaming

For our first match of the day we have the Lower Bracket finals -- a clash between Invictus Gaming and TNC Predator. The winner of this Best of 3 will be taking on Vici Gaming in the grand finals so this match-up should, by all means, be an absolute barnburner. There’s a lot on the line, and you can expect both teams to come out of the gates swinging.

Let’s look at TNC Predator first.

The Southeast Asian squad lost just three games up to this point and are definitely a worthy challenger. That said, their huge hype train quickly got derailed after a one-sided 0-2 loss at the hands of Vici Gaming yesterday. The Chinese giants started off the first game in the best possible way after a phenomenal pick and ban phase.

Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang definitely stood out with his Huskar performance against Armel Paul "Armel" Tabios in the middle lane. Xiong "Pyw" Jiahan also flexed with his exceptional roaming Mirana which allowed his team to take down TNC in the early game without breaking a sweat. Vici won the first teamfight and simply snowballed to victory without much trouble. TNC’s backs were against the wall and there was nothing they could do to get out. In a way, the first game was over before it even began. Vici were as dominant as humanly possible. Heck, it looked like a clash between a professional team and a couple of solo queue randoms.

That said, they slowed down considerably once the second game came around. They wanted to make all the right calls and not let TNC even out the series. TNC, however, stepped up when it mattered the most. They had the better draft and decided to focus on the laning phase first and foremost. It was a high-class game of Dota coming from both teams.

Every decision was well calculated and everybody knew that one wrong step could lead to a disaster. TNC didn’t want to fight early on, so they set up deep vision, they focused on farming and waited things out. They had the upper hand and even managed to back Vici into a corner for the good majority of the game. It was as even as possible, and you really couldn’t tell who was going to get the win up until a key Roshan fight.

A huge mistake from TNC allowed Vici to turn the tides, get every single Roshan drop and close out the game.

TNC fought as hard as they could, but it simply wasn’t enough. Fortunately, they still have a chance at redemption even after dropping to Vici in fairly one-sided fashion. They imploded at the worst possible moment, and it left everyone wondering: are they really as good as we thought, or was Vici simply better on the day?

Opposite them we have Invictus Gaming. A fascinating team whose Chengdu run has been defined by many ups and down. Even though they lost against Evil Geniuses at the very start of the playoffs, they were able to take down every single lower bracket opponent they stumbled across afterwards. Many of those clashes were also one-sided shellackings, so they've attained more than enough redemption after a couple of Upper Bracket blunders.

The last we’ve seen from them was a back and forth affair against North America’s Evil Geniuses. It wasn't easy, but the fashion in which they got the win was certainly impressive. They fought tooth and nail against a team many thought were the favorites.

It's getting harder and harder to doubt Invictus. They're making all the right moves and choices when everything's on the line. They're certainly not perfect, but after witnessing TNC get outclassed to such a degree by Vici, it's hard to side with the Philippinese squad, no matter their inherent talent.

We're going with Invictus on this one, but not with full confidence. They have all the right tools to get the win over TNC and reach the grand finals. That said, TNC won't go down without a fight, so expect a hectic series that should, by all means, go the distance.