TNC secure a mesmerising 2-0 victory against one of the TI6 favourites

TNC Pro Team pulled off what could turn out to be an incredibly important victory in the groupstages against one of the favourites, putting the nail in the coffin of their enemy's popular Drow strat.

Sorry Wings, TNC know Drow Ranger better than most

 TNC Pro Team were one of the big surprises of the Regional qualifier after finishing 1st in the SEA region. Their opponents  Wings Gaming are one of the teams of the moment, recently finishing 2nd at the Nanyang Championships and also winning The Summit 5 a fortnight ago.

TNC's victory is all the more impressive as they dealt with Wings's Drow Ranger strat, which was first-ban material at the Summit 5, in both game 1 AND 2. This is not however, entirely surprising as TNC were one of the few teams to pick Drow Ranger regularly in the past, using the strategy to win back-to-back Corsair Gaming Arenas more than a year ago. 

Wings Blinded by the Lights

In the first game Wings took a sizeable lead thanks to early kills on TNC's support heroes of Io and Keeper of the Light, and the first 10 minutes was all Wings. Wings characteristically either win hard or lose horribly, but this was a different kind of series for them.

14 minutes was a big turning point after a cheeky Shadow Blade gank by  Chu 'Shadow' Zeyu's Drow Ranger on an unsuspecting  Carlo 'QQ / Kuku' Palad Phantom Lancer was foiled by  Jimmy 'DeMoN' Ho. The NA player, who joined the Filipino team for the Regional qualifiers, used Blinding Lights to keep Wings' Drow Ranger and Dazzle at bay. By this point  Samson E. 'Sam H' Hidalgo's Axe arrived on the scene and a double Culling Blade followed on the two Wings' heroes.

The combination of Phantom Lancer and Keeper of the Light worked wonders, especially with the Io + Axe combination on hand whenever needed. Blinding Lights continued to be a major issue for Wings' draft, as the Windranger and Drow combo required good positioning in order to be able to kite the likes of Axe and Phantom Lancer.

Wings' carry player had opted for Shadow Blade first on Drow, but on more than one occasion the lack of damage along with Kuku's ability to use Diffusal Blade to dispel Gust on his Phantom Lancer, meant Wings' deadly hero was rendered fairly obselete.  Zhang 'Zrd / Faith Bian' Ruida's Windranger was the only hero of Wings to really get stuck in, with Shackleshot enabling the Chinese team to at least eliminate Io and Keeper of the Light.

Overall a great game plan by TNC who dealt with a Wings draft even the likes of OG and Liquid did not want to face up against at The Summit 5.