A fellow Filipino proved to be a thorn on the side of TNC Predator as it crashed out of the WePlay AniMajor, the second major of the Dota Pro Circuit, after losing to Evil Geniuses in Kiev, Ukraine.

TNC Predator got the boot no thanks to a near-flawless performance from Filipino star Abed “Abed” Yusop, who steered Evil Geniuses to a 2-1 win in their best-of-three lower bracket duel on Friday, June 11. 

Abed tallied 12 kills and 14 assists against 1 death on Ember Spirit in the do-or-die Game 3 for Evil Geniuses as TNC Predator settled for a seventh- to eighth-place finish. 

TNC Predator managed to extend Game 3 to 55 minutes but did not have enough firepower to hold off Evil Geniuses, who enjoyed a whopping 47,000 gold lead by the time it won the game. 

Earlier in the series, Evil Geniuses clinched Game 1 in only 29 minutes before TNC Predator knotted the series score at 1-1 with a spirited Game 2 win behind Armel “Armel” Tabios and Jun “Bok” Kanehara. 

The loss denied TNC Predator of getting a direct invite to the 10th edition of The International, the world championship of Dota, in August. 

TNC Predator needed at least a second-place finish in the WePlay AniMajor to secure a direct invite to The International 10. 

Still, TNC Predator will take home $12,500 (around P590,000) as it ended the WePlay AniMajor inside the top eight out of the 18 participating teams.

TNC Predator can still qualify for the world championship through the Southeast Asia regional qualifiers, although it will have to go through the eye of the needle as only one squad will advance to The International 10. 

A total of 15 teams, including other Filipino crews like Execration, Omega Esports, Neon Esports, and Cignal Ultra, will vie for The International 10 berth in the Southeast Asia qualifiers. – Rappler.com