Philippine Dota 2 team TNC Predator has managed to qualify for The International 2019 after a well-earned victory over Chinese team Royal Never Give Up (RNG Royal), in the upper bracket of Epicenter 2019, held in Moscow, Russia.

The first match saw TNC’s Gabbi’s Sven going on a beyond-Godlike streak, with Armel “Armel” Paul Tabios’ Ember Spirit backing it up with similar performance, forcing RNG to call gg at the 30-minute mark.

As for game two, RNG managed to take the win with a push-focused Omiknight, Warlock and Leshrac combo, despite TNC getting more kills due to its single-hero pick-off core lineup (Batrider, Lina, Oracle).

TNC clinched the best-of-three win in the final match with a strong Area of Effect setup with Kunkka, Enigma, and Juggernaut. The team broke past RNG’s Tier 3 bottom tower and took both bottom lane barracks at the 17-minute mark, forcing RNG to call gg within seconds of the push.

Securing our place at #TI9 is one thing, and making a deeper run here is another. We will get back soon, one objective at a time!

Again, thank you for staying up with us, good morning everyone and thank God for this wonderful day!#StrongerTogether #SummonYourStrength
— TNC Predator ???????? @ MDL Chengdu ???????? Major (@TNCPredator) June 25, 2019

Their latest win secures TNC Predator’s Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points at 1,596, giving them the ninth spot in. The International 9 will be held at Shanghai, China, on August 20-25 this year, and has a crowd-funded prize pool currently sitting at over US$19.6 million.

TNC Predator qualifies for TI9, takes ninth spot in DPC rankings