TNC Predator bags P26M as DOTA 2 champ in WESG 2018

POSTED BY: Lionell Go Macahilig
2019-03-17 18:15:00 PHT

Hot on the heels of its big win as the ultimate champion in the DOTA 2 category of Predator League in February, Filipino eSports team TNC Predator recently bagged another major triumph as it takes home the championship trophy with USD 500,000 (over P26 million) cash prize in the DOTA 2 Grand Finals of the World Electronic Sports Game (WESG) 2018 in Chongqing, China on Sunday, March 10, 2019.

TNC Predator won the Grand Finals after defeating China’s eSports team Keen Gaming 2-0, the latter finishing first runnerup with USD 200,000 cash prize. Earlier, TNC Predator defeated Russia's White-Off 2-0 in the semis, the latter landing on the second runnerup slot with USD 100,000 cash prize.

WESG 2019’s DOTA 2 champion team consists of of Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios, Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte, Nico “eyyou” Barcelon, Timothy “Tims” Randrup, and Lotac’s Marc “Raven” Fausto. Team captain Carlo "Kuku" Palad failed to take part in the competition due to the ban imposed on him after he allegedly posted a racial slur on a chat against Chinese players during a public game.

WESG is an international eSports tournament that holds the highest prize pool of any third-party competition across multiple titles amounting to USD 5.5 million. As an “Olympic-style” tournament, WESG follows the Olympic standard where teams must consist of players from one nationality to emphasize national pride and encourage fans to take part in the competition.

WESG was founded by Alisports, the sports division of Jack Ma's Alibaba Group, in 2016, the same year when TNC Predator took home its first WESG championship trophy with USD 800,000 cash prize (over PhP 42 million).