Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte won the Most Valuable Player award at the MDL Chengdu Major for his role in helping TNC Predator take first place.
The MDL Chengdu Major was a blast, especially for Dota fans in Southeast Asia who got to see a local team bring home a major title for the first time ever. Alongside this, Gabbi was crowned not just an MDL Chengdu Major champion but also the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The award may not be as coveted as ESL One’s MVP award, which comes alongside a brand new Mercedes-Benz car, but the title does commemorate an exceptional performance by the TNC carry.
Throughout the tournament, TNC capitalized on the massive popularity of the Earthshaker-Morphling combination. With Gabbi on Morphling, the team ran over some of the tournament’s best.
Gabbi had several amazing plays with Morphling, using Morph to transform into Earthshaker and then using Aghanim’s Scepter-upgraded Enchant Totems to set up lengthy chain stuns and huge damage during team fights.
They leveraged that strategy all the way to the end, using it to bring home two of their three wins over Vici Gaming in the grand finals. Gabbi was a combined 40-4 in his two wins on Morphling in the series.
Gabbi didn’t just exploit a single overpowered hero combination, though. He showcased his versatility when TNC Predator played an eccentric draft and put him on Night Stalker. Another notable performance was Gabbi’s Naga Siren against J.Storm. He racked up 37,000 net worth and 18 kills in 46 minutes.
The Filipino player consistently came through for TNC and proved that he can carry with almost any hero.
Gabbi may not be a fan favorite in the same way that players like Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun are, but with the consistent performance of the new TNC Predator he should be getting his due before long.
