By Joel D. Pinaroc
Perseverance and sacrifice propelled the Philippine team TNC Predator atop the online gaming world anew after the team bagged its second consecutive championship crown at the Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) 2 tournament at the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) held in Chongqing, China this month.
Along with the championship trophy, the all-professional team comprised of Armel Paul ?Armel? Tabios, Kim ?Gabbi? Villafuerter, Nico ?eyyou? Barcelon, Timothy ?Tims? Randrup and Carlo ?Kuku? Palad, also brought home the top cash prize of $500,000 (over P26 million).
TNC Predator bested top teams in Asia, most notably China, and around the world to win the championship.
In a previous interview, team members disclosed that one of the toughest competitions they had was against Team Russia.
Team members also admitted that to reach such heights, ?there was a lot of sacrifice? particularly the time spent on playing the game.
DOTA 2 is a massively popular game in the Philippines and abroad. Some players transitioned to playing the game professionally by joining tournaments around the world which offered prize money to winners.
In fact, TNC Predator was fresh off its win in the Asia Pacific Predator League, bagging the championship and $75,000 in prize money before winning the big one at the WESG.
DOTA 2, in a nutshell, is a an online team-based, fantasy world game, where players can take the role of various characters — with different capabilities — to battle it out with other teams to accomplish certain tasks.
Taiwanese PC maker Acer is one of the major sponsors of TNC Predator, particularly Acer?s game PC lineup ?Predator.?
TNC Predator was formed in 2015 and although relatively young, the team is now known as a gaming powerhouse after becoming the first Philippine team to qualify in ?The International,? a prestigious global online gaming tournament attracting the best professional gamers across the globe.
?The International? is organized by Valve Corporation, the American video gamed developer and digital distribution company and the creator of DOTA 2.
