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| The 2018 PGS Spring Split roster of the former relegation squad TNC Pro Team. Pro Gaming Series |
By Ozzy Alaba
MANILA
-- TNC is now finally back on the groove!
TNC Pro Team finally regained their grip for second place in the standings as they dismantled the skidding Imperium Pro Team, 2-1 to rebound their Week 5 loss to Mineski in Day 2 of the sixth week of the 2018 Bacchus PGS Spring Split on Thursday.
TNC, who had
been knocked down by Team Manila Eagles (9-5, 4-2 in set) at third place last
week through a sweep against Infuzed eSports, 2-0 and a loss to Mineski via a lop-sided sweep, 2-0 asserted its dominance in the
mid lane despite playing Game 1 on Friday and Games 2 and 3 on Thursday due to
technical difficulties as their sophomore mid laner Arrell Hill Nulud stepped
up big, dealing lots of damage with his signature Vladimir and Taliyah to carry
the six-man squad to the W.
Nulud, who
has been named as the Player of the Game through his combined 5.71
kill-death-assist (KDA) ratio (15/7/25 KDA) also got enough aid to his fellow
carry as their rookie AD Carry Richard Lara also helped in chunking IPT’s
health bars through his immense kiting on Sivir and Xayah, showing no signs of
rustiness in the day interval of the matches and resulting to a combined
game-high 13 KDA Ratio (17/3/22 KDA) in the entire series.
TNC’s
sophomore support Beaver-Ed Villanueva also helped in anchoring his team down
the stretch, playing utility supports like Rakan and Janna, which let him gain
a combined game-high 43 assists in the whole series.
Tightness in
contest for objective control and gold advantage was the main line of both
squads in the curtain-raiser.
Both teams
were constantly trading kills and objectives, highlighting a 3 for 1 kill
exchange in a top lane teamfight and a tier-1 tower destroyed for TNC In the
first 14 minutes.
As TNC
continued to widen their margin, they also scaled hard until the 25th minute,
where the former relegation squad shut the former PGS kings down in a mid lane
clash, 4 for 0.
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| WIPE OUT. TNC's AD Carry Richard Lara spelled IPT's doom slowly in the 25th minute as he lead his squad to a 4 for 0 wipe out in a mid lane teamfight, highlighting Lara's Triple Kill on his Kleptomancy-equipped Ezreal. |
It just didn’t stop there. TNC relentlessly dumped their adversaries in an IPT's base teamfight in the final ticks, 4 for 0, gaining the upper hand in the series through a 33-minute skirmish.
Enraged with
the loss, IPT then reversed the waves in the second game as they successfully
got the rhythm of a comeback win by coming back in a 6-0 kill deficit in the
first 31 minutes through seasoned AD Carry Josef Adrian Cabero’s mid-to-late
game power spike on Xayah and support Rogie dela Cruz’s on-point Rakan’s Grand
Entrance, tying the series at 1 apiece.
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| COMEBACK VICTORY. After failing its first attempt, Imperium Pro Team (IPT) finally channeled their antics as they came back from a 6 to 0 kill deficit against TNC in the first 31 minutes to tie up the series at 1-1 in Game 2. |
Fearing the
attempt of a mini-reverse sweep, TNC instantly silenced them in the final game,
bringing veteran top laner Richard Espejo’s 6/3/4 KDA on Sion on the spotlight
and Nulud’s Vladimir’s Tides of Blood’s immense damage, sealing the game and
forcing IPT to call the series quits in 30 minutes.
Meanwhile,
Cabero carried IPT on his shoulders, amassing a combined 13/11/14 KDA,
altogether with mid laner Roybie Segovia, who garnered a combined 8/7/17 KDA
that merely went for naught.
Dela Cruz, on the other hand, didn't also fail in supporting Cabero in carrying as he bagged a combined 1/12/23 KDA in the end.
TNC (10-4,
5-1 in set) continues its quest of solidifying their semifinal bye (top 2
slots) into the playoffs in the final week of the group stages as they will
face the 2016 PGS Summer champions Acclaim EmpireX (4-9, 2-4 in set) on
Saturday while IPT tries to come back on the same day against bottom-placer
Infuzed eSports (4-11, 1-5 in set).
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The updated standings of the 2018 Bacchus PGS Spring Split. Pro Gaming Series
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Follow him on Twitter: @History4Lyf
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