Southeast Asian squad, TNC Predator, and European team, Alliance, went head-to-head on day two of the Group Stage of The International 2019 and went out tied at one win apiece.
Game one saw Alliance pick up a heavy-hitting core duo in Sven for Michael “miCKe” Vu and Death Prophet for Max “qojqva” Bröcker, while TNC opted for a more maneuverable lineup with Queen of Pain mid for Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios, a safelane Bristleback for Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte, and an offlane Batrider for Carlo “Kuku” Palad.
Alliance was able to shut down Gabbi in the laning stage while giving Micke a lot of space to farm, leading to an early lead. However, TNC made good use of their mobile heroes and multiple Force Staves to repeatedly run down and outmaneuver Alliance even if the latter was stronger on paper.
TNC’s success in teamfights eventually allowed Gabbi to get strong enough to tank and run down Alliance’s heroes on his own, opening the game up enough for the all-Filipino squad to force the GG call from Alliance.
In game two, Alliance pulled out Broodmother for qoqjva and Faceless Void for miCKe while TNC countered with a mid Earthshaker for Armel and Antimage for Gabbi.
Both teams spent much of the early to midgame in a stalemate, until Alliance wiped TNC in midlane to take the lead.
With Broodmother controlling much of the map for Alliance, they eventually pulled ahead and won the fights they needed to tie up the series 1-1.
With the draw, TNC stay in the middle of the pack of Group A with a 4-4 record, while Alliance remain near the bottom at 2-4.
Be sure to check out our coverage of The International 2019 Group Stage for more TI9 action.
