Close but no cigar.

TNC Predator will not see action in The International, the world championship of Dota 2, for the first time since 2015 after falling short to Fnatic in the Southeast Asia Qualifier grand finals on Saturday, July 3.

A win away from its fifth straight The International appearance after taking a 2-0 lead in best-of-five series, TNC Predator crumbled in the next three games as Fnatic completed a reverse sweep.

With the win, Fnatic clinched the lone The International spot up for grabs in the Southeast Asia Qualifier.

“The run was near perfect but we came [up] just one game short. The chance to win TI is not meant for us this year,” TNC Predator wrote in a statement on Facebook.

Relegated to the lower bracket after getting swept by Fnatic in the upper bracket finals, TNC Predator secured its place in the championship round with a 2-1 win over BOOM Esports.

The all-Filipino TNC Predator, composed of Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte, Timothy “Tims” Randrup, Armel “Armel” Tabios, Jun “Bok” Kanehara, and Marvin “Boomy” Rushton, seemed on its way to redemption after seizing a commanding 2-0 lead against Fnatic in the grand finals.

But Fnatic, led by Filipinos Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto and Djardel “DJ” Mampusti, proved to be a tough nut to crack as it knotted the series score at 2-2 with back-to-back 44-minute finishes.

Smelling blood in the water, Fnatic disposed of TNC Predator in the winner-take-all duel in just 34 minutes – the fastest game of the series.

Fnatic will join 17 other teams in The International, including another Southeast Asia crew, T1, which is bannered by Filipinos Carlo “Kuku” Palad and Karl “Karl” Baldovino.

The 10th edition of The International, which will be staged in August, has a record prize pool of $40 million (around P1.9 billion). – Rappler.com