After weeks of will he or won't he, Dota 2 team TNC Predator officially announced that long-time team member Carlo "Kuku" Palad was officially leaving the team. Kuku isn't alone, as it was revealed that team captain Nico "eyyou" Barcelon and coach Lee Seung "heen" Gon are leaving as well. That leaves three team members in Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte, Armel Paul "Armel" Tabios, and Timothy "Tims" Randrup.
Just as TNC fans were still reeling from the news, TNC later revealed that the two open positions have in fact been filled up. Joining the team is Damien "kpii" Cho, who recently played for Mineski. The other is Park "March" Tae-won, who served as Fnatic's coach. For Dota 2 fans, the two names are also familiar because both were part of MVP Phoenix.
Kuku's departure marks a new beginning as he was considered by fans as the face of TNC. TNC caught everyone's attention way back in The International 2016 when the team beat OG 2-0. OG was a powerhouse that year, with many expecting them to be in the Grand Finals. With Kuku using his signature hero Huskar, TNC managed to defeat OG and eliminate them from the competition.
Back then Kuku was playing position 1. He later moved to position 5 and for some time served as TNC's team captain. After TNC chose a new team captain, he moved to position 3. Kuku came into the spotlight of the community after allegations of him saying racist comments. That led to him being banned from participating in the Chongqing Major. The ban did not last, as Kuku was later allowed to join in the next tournaments and even in TI9, which was held in Shanghai.
The "dance" on Kuku's status started after The International 2019 when he tweeted "LFT." For fans, this meant he was "Looking for Team." We reported about that here at Player.One. With no other information from Kuku and no announcement from TNC, fans were left somewhat confused as to his final status. Kuku later said that he was still on vacation and that it was all a joke. You can read more of that here.
However, with this latest announcement, it appears that Kuku has indeed left the team. That leaves Tims as the sole team member who was part of the TI6 squad.
Meanwhile, eyyou's departure had to do with him taking a break from the Dota 2 scene. He had joined the team early this year during the height of TNC's DPC run. As team captain he managed to steer the team to a direct invite to TI9.
Only time will tell how long-time TNC fans are going to accept all these changes. Then again, for many TNC fans, it is always going to be about how the team performs.
