The Asia-Pacific Predator League 2020/21 Grand Final is officially back, and Day 1 was highlighted by victories from teams representing the Philippines.
Both TNC Predator and OB.Neon Esports dominated their opponents Galaxy Racers and Team SOOS respectively.
In the first match, Galaxy Racers, a team representing Malaysia was allowed to select Io, who is considered to be the most contested hero in DOTA 2.
However, their hyper-aggressive playstyle in the early game proved to be a boon as TNC’s patient counterattacking game was enough to dispatch them. Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte’s Medusa and Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios’ Leshrac proved to be too much for them to handle.
The second match saw OB.Neon Esports carry their momentum from the Singapore Major as they easily dispatched Team SOOS from Singapore. Though Team SOOS was able to ban Puck, who is OB.Neon’s signature hero, they were still out drafted and outplayed from the beginning. OB.Neon Esports did a good job in denying Team SOOS the top lane, which caused John Anthony “Natsumi-“ Vargas to snowball as Bloodseeker.
In the other matches, BOOM Esports, a team from Indonesia, outclassed Team Star from Malaysia. Their midlaner, Rafli Fathur “Mikoto” Rahman, had an easy laning phase and his performance was complemented by the supporting presence of Alfi “Khezcute” Nelphyana and Brizio Adi “Hyde” Putra.
The day’s last DOTA 2 game saw 496 Gaming, a team from Vietnam, dominating the other representative from the Philippines, Reckoning Esports. They secured all three lanes, giving no space for Reckoning to bounce back.
Though Galaxy Racers, Team SOOS, Team Star, and Reckoning Esports lost, they still have a chance to salvage their tournament hopes given the tournament’s double-elimination format.
Matches are broadcast on Facebook and Twitch channels. You may also tune in to Predator’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages to be up to date with the remaining battles this April 7-11