It was no surprise to see the two best Dota 2 teams in Southeast Asia meet in the grand finals of the BTS Pro Series. What was surprising was just how thorough Fnatic’s dismantling of TNC Predator was. Fnatic outplayed TNC at every turn, and no matter how much of a lead TNC procured, Fnatic had the appropriate answer.
Fnatic had already beat TNC twice in the same tournament, winning 2-1 in the group stage and 2-0 in the upper bracket of the playoffs. It was more domination from Fnatic as they swept TNC 3-0.
Fnatic has been on a tear, winning their three most recent tournaments. They were the winners of the last international competition, the Dota Summit 12, before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic swiftly put LAN events in the backseat. The SEA all-stars have since dominated the regional leagues that have been organized, earning the crown at ESL One Los Angeles Online and now, the BTS Pro Series.
Remarkably, all three grand finals have been clean sweeps. The victory against TNC also marks Fnatic’s 13th straight series win in a row, with their last loss coming in the group stage against Team Adroit at the ESL One competition.
All three games were dominating showings from Fnatic. The first and third games saw Fnatic run at TNC with every chance they got, allowing Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon’s Alchemist and Lycan to farm freely and become an indomitable pushing force in both games.
In game two, Fnatic’s plan was derailed slightly with a relatively poor laning stage. TNC looked like they had an opportunity to sneak the game with a powerful Silencer and Morphling duo, but Fnatic’s supports and secondary cores stuck to their guns and continued creating space for 23savage.
The young Fnatic carry repaid his team’s faith yet again. While Phantom Assassin isn’t a pushing monster, all they had to do was repeatedly send TNC’s heroes to the grave to take down structures safely and easily.
Fnatic played 14 unique heroes over three games, with only Moon repeating his hero, Ember Spirit, once. Not only were Fnatic in full control, each player showed off their deep hero pools, which will certainly be an asset when international competition revs up again.Â
The team has been the monarchs of SEA for a long time now but have repeatedly faltered in premier LAN tournaments. For fans of Fnatic, this combination of young blood and experienced heads might be the roster to finally exceed Mushi and MidOne’s TI6 Fnatic team.
