Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte’s Spectre pulled out all the stops needed for TNC to survive BOOM Esports’ Game Three onslaught, escaping with a 2-1 victory to advance to the upper bracket finals of The International 10 Southeast Asia regional qualifiers, Friday.
Playing without any barracks left, Gabbi rallied TNC near the Roshan pit where they were able to steal the Aegis from the Indonesians.
From there, TNC was able to secure crucial kills on Brizio “Hyde” Putra (Phoenix), Alfi “Khezcute” Nelphyana (Lion), and Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman (Templar Assassin) to tip the once-lopsided game to their side.
Gabbi then went on to secure the Divine Rapier as TNC marched onto the middle lane and successfully ended the match through a backdoor push.
Mikoto bought back for one last defensive stand but it was not enough as BOOM Esports was missing Khezcute and Hyde who both died without buybacks.
Gabbi finished with six kills and 17 assists against just four deaths while Jun “Bok” Kanehara had four kills, three deaths, and 17 assists in the 27-30 win which lasted for 75 minutes and three seconds.
On the other hand, Mikoto led BOOM Esports with 12 kills, five deaths, and 14 assists while Randy “Dreamocel” Sapoetra’s Juggernaut had nine kills, four deaths, and 12 assists.
After playing from behind early in Game One, TNC Predator, through Gabbi’s Terrorblade, managed to even the scales against BOOM Esports. It even came to a point where the Filipinos were actually poised to snatch the win after a crucial kill on Hyde’s Mirana which left the Indonesians down to just four heroes.
But a crucial jump from Dreamocel (Axe) sliced Gabbi’s health to just a sliver – forcing Marvin “Boomy” Rushton (Phoenix) to use the Super Nova on his carry. That’s when things started to go down for TNC as Dreamocel managed to take down the sun before it exploded – killing Boomy and Gabbi who both lacked the gold for their respective buybacks.
Dreamocel tallied 11 kills and 13 assists against just one death in the 31-18 Game One win which lasted for 66 minutes and four seconds.
TNC then averted a late collapse all thanks to Bok’s Ultra Kill near the end which gave the Filipinos a free run at Roshan. TNC went on to secure the win, 34-18, in 46 minutes and 24 seconds after a crucial kill on Dreamocel’s Medusa.
The Filipinos will next face regional rival Fnatic tomorrow at the upper bracket finals while BOOM Esports will go up against Galaxy Racer in the lower bracket.
