By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--Armel Tabios waxed hot in the tail-end of TNC Predator's two-game series against Pain Gaming as both sides settled for a 1-1 draw in Day 2 of the group stages of The International 2018 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Friday (Philippine Time).
Tabios never wavered in Game 2 as he led TNC Predator in forcing the stalemate against the rising DOTA 2 force from Brazil and bouncing back from failing to take advantage of a huge opportunity midway into their series opener.
Pain found itself losing its Tier 3 tower at the top lane midway into Game 1 after a sneak attack from Tims Randrup's Dark Willow.
But behind Octavio Gabriel, playing as Winter Wyvern, and William Medeiros, playing as Clinkz, Pain recovered and pounced on a struggling TNC Predator side to force the latter to call GG at the 56th minute.
However, Tabios bounced back from his sluggish performance as Huskar in Game 1 by wrecking havoc in Game 2 as Templar Assassin, converting 15 kills and rendering Medeiros, now playing Lycan, without a kill.
Aliwi Omar, playing as Ursa, also failed to contain Tabios, and Pain called GG after 36 minutes.
TNC moved to a tie for fourth place with Newbee in Group B at 3-3, while Pain tied Serenity in the sixth spot at 2-2.
TNC will face Virtus Pro and Optic later Friday.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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