2018 is beginning to look like the year for both Mineski and TNC Pro Team. Both these teams have managed to qualify for two upcoming Valve Major tournaments, mainly the Dota Asia Championship 2018 (DAC 2018) as well as Epicenter XL. What’s unfortunate in both the Southeast Asia qualifiers is that Fnatic just came up short, losing out to TNC twice, which meant they will be sitting out of two Major tournaments.
DAC 2018 will be happening from 30 March 2018 7 April 2018 with a total prize pool US$1,000,000 and 1,500 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points. Epicenter XL will be carrying the same prize pool and points, but it will only start on 27 April 2018 to 6 May 2018.
Mineski’s run in the DAC 2018 Southeast Asia qualifiers were a string of wins in the Winner’s Bracket, which saw them take out TaskUs Titans, Execration and TNC, all from the Philippines. TNC had a pretty decent run in the Winner’s Bracket as well, eliminating Fire Dragoon from Malaysia and Boom ID from Indonesia. Sadly, their loss to Mineski dropped them to the Loser’s Bracket Finals, where they came up against Fnatic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYlRtxWC888
Fnatic’s run could’ve been a fairytale ending, if not for TNC. After losing to Boom ID in the first round, Fnatic dropped to the Loser’s Bracket, where they faced Fire Dragoon, Execration and Geek Fam, all of which resulted in victories. Sadly, all was for nought as it was TNC’s destiny to go to DAC 2018 after a 2-1 victory over Fnatic. As DAC 2018 had two Southeast Asia qualifier spots, both Mineski and TNC are heading to China for the LAN finals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha0142DqokY
If you thought that was it, Epicenter XL had a similar fate for all three teams, but this time through the Group Stages. Both Mineski and TNC finished first and second place respectively in Group A while Fnatic and Geek Fam also topped their groups first and second. This led to the playoffs, which saw Mineski facing against Boom ID while Fnatic went up against TNC once again. As expected, Both Mineski and TNC won their respective matches in a clean two-nil sweep, which meant they will face off again in the finals.
With Epicenter XL only having one qualifying spot, it was a crucial match for both teams but ultimately, Mineski came out on top yet again, taking out TNC two-nil.
Unfortunately, after playing two qualifiers back-to-back, Mineski will be dropping out of the DreamLeague Season 9 Southeast Asia qualifiers. They will be replaced by Geek Fam as they try to battle their way through the bracket against Execration and hopefully, TNC. If Geek Fam wins their next two matches, they will go up against Fnatic, who surprisingly, are in the Winner’s Bracket Finals.
With Mineski out of the picture, this is Fnatic’s time to shine, and they definitely need it, losing out in the past two Valve Major tournament qualifiers. Unfortunately, DreamLeague Season 9 is only a Valve Minor tournament, featuring a US$300,000 prize pool and 300 DPC points.
