The first Major of the 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit has found its champion as TNC Predator defeat Vici Gaming in the MDL Chengdu Grand Final. The Filippino-majority squad take home the Major title, the $300,000 grand prize, and 4,850 Dota Pro Circuit points. Vici earned their Grand Final appearance with a victory over TNC Predator in the upper bracket final. TNC reached the Grand Final after defeating Invictus Gaming in the lower bracket.
Game one started off slow, Vici’s Zhou "Yang" Haiyang taking first blood over TNC’s Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte at the nine minute mark. Gold leads remained minimal, though the game’s momentum quickly shifted in TNC’s favor as Armel "Armel" Tabios secured a double kill around fourteen minutes. TNC continued forward, Gabbi and Armel reaching seven kills each as they took a dominant game one victory at 32 minutes.
TNC looked ready to take game two as it kicked off, racing to a lead over the Chinese side early on. Damien "kpii" Chok helped his team maintain their lead as the game reached twenty minutes, claiming two kills on Timbersaw to put TNC up eight kills to four. The following team fight saw Gabbi’s Morphling take control of the game with four quick kills, pushing the momentum in TNC’s favor. Backed by Timothy "Tims" Randrup’s Earthshaker, Gabbi seemed to destroy Vici Gaming with seventeen total kills as TNC put themselves on match point at 33 minutes.
Gabbi came into game three ready to continue rolling over Vici, securing first blood before being traded out by Yang in the first three minutes. The game stayed close, neither team taking much of a lead until Zhang "Eurus" Chengjun took a double kill to put Vici up thirteen kills to five. The gold then shifted in their favor, Eurus and Yang putting up numbers as Vici inched towards the throne. Gabbi managed to claim the Aegis of the Immortal, gaining TNC some space as they pushed towards Vici’s own base. The next Roshan fight saw Eurus steal the Aegis, propelling Vici forward as they put their first win on the board in 37 minutes.
Game four’s draft seemed to favor TNC as Gabbi claimed Morphling once again, while Park "March" Tae-won took on Earthshaker. TNC took an early kill lead, though Vici evened up the game early on. Vici went ahead in kills as the game reached thirty minutes, and maintained a steep 14k+ gold lead. The kills stayed close as the gold continued to swell in Vici’s favor, reaching a peak 29k lead. Gabbi brought TNC back into the game, using the Aegis of the Immortal to reach 23 kills as the team pushed for Vici’s base. TNC Predator secured the Major victory after an hour and three minutes.
TNC Predator take home the MDL Chengdu Major title, the $300,000 grand prize, and 4,850 DPC points towards their journey to The International 2020. The next Dota Pro Circuit Minor will begin on January 9th, while the following Major begins on January 18th, 2020.