TNC’s first opponent: Vici Gaming Reborn

On Tuesday, August 9, the Philippines’ TNC Pro will be facing China’s Vici Gaming Reborn (VG.R) in a deadly single-elimination match that will determine who gets to move forward at The International 2016.

The winner of this do-or-die battle will not only move forward in the brackets, but will also enjoy strategically safer best-of-3 matches up until the Finals. Meanwhile, the loser will be eliminated from the main event.

Can TNC Pro carry the flag and keep the dream alive? Get to know the team’s opponents

Rebranded and reborn

Vici Gaming (VG) is considered a well established group in the realm of eSports. Whether it be in DOTA 2 or League of Legends, the Chinese group has made a name for themselves with their highly competitive rosters and VG.R is no exception.

The “little brother” of VG was first known as Vici Gaming Potential until there was a massive change in rosters where only two of its original members remained.

With the newly formed roster, Vici Gaming Potential rebranded and emerged as Vici Gaming Reborn.

The new roster was only officially formed March of this year and they have already made it to the top of the Chinese ladder. They have even bested their own “big brother” team in the Chinese qualifiers for The International 2016.

Their rapid rise was not expected but was also not much a huge surprise, especially since the roster is formed by a combination of heavyweight veterans and relatively fresh and talented faces. 

Most of the players on this team all have their fair share of The International experience. Fy, captain of the team, has found massive success with VG, after winning 2nd place in The International 2014, and 4th place at The International 2015. DDC, during his time with LGD, won 2nd place at The International 2012. He has also attended all The International tournaments. Zyf, has attended The International 2015 with EHOME.

The team also has a formidable head coach and substitute player in the form of Mikasa. Mikasa is one of the most respected and successful coaches in the scene. He has led his former team, Newbee to a victorious 1st place finish at The International 2014. After which he has helped LGD win 3rd place at The International 2015.

Their story so far

Despite the individual success stories of the members and the team’s rise to the top of their local scene, VG.R has struggled during the group stages of The International 2016. VG.R became unstable and lost their strong and confident form in the past few days. A team that was feared prior to The International tripped right at the gates.

In fact VG.R finished the group stages at the bottom spot of Group B. And out of their 14 games, the team only won 4.

They may have won 2nd place in the Chinese qualifiers for The International, but the 3rd placer and Wildcard team, EHOME, have made it to the top of Group B at the Group Stages easily.

Some attribute the team’s losses to the fact that the members seem to be running plans that are good on paper, but are difficult to execute during the actual game. Others say it could be their over-aggression that causes their mistakes.

Whatever the case or whatever needs to be improved, things are only going to be tougher for this Chinese team. To add to their troubles, one of their players, Yang, failed his visa interview on August 1.

With this, Mikasa, who usually subs for NoNo, is forced to play a position he may not be used to. Despite the fact that Mikasa is a decent coach and player and is skilled at sharing resources with his team, completely losing Yang for the rest of the main event will require them to adjust quickly and change strategies.

A team reborn with a lot of promise now faces an uphill battle, but with such an experienced roster they may still pull off a shocking upset. To defeat them, TNC can capitalize on their volatility by starting strong and maintaining the lead all throughout the match.

Should TNC succeed they move on to fight against the loser of OG vs MVP in a best-of-3 match.

If they lose to VG.R however, TNC’s journey at The International ends and they go home with $100,332 or P4,705,420.30. – Rappler.com