MDL Chengdu Major champions TNC Predator have signed Kim “Febby” Yong-min as the team’s Dota 2 coach. Febby boasts an extensive Dota career, spanning back to the game’s early competitive days. TNC has been one of the best-performing teams so far in the 2019-20 season, taking victories at ESL One Hamburg and the MDL Chengdu Major.
Kim “Febby” Yong-min has been playing Dota 2 since the game’s inception, and has been active as a professional player since 2012. He played on a number of teams in the early years of his professional career, and broke into the upper echelon when taking up the support role on MVP Phoenix in 2015. The team qualified for The International 2015 as a Wild Card, and narrowly missed an upper bracket seeding despite group stage wins over Fnatic, Invictus Gaming, Natus Vincere, and Team Secret. Febby and co. placed 7-8th after losing to Vici Gaming in the play-offs.
Moving into 2016, MVP Phoenix placed fourth at the Shanghai Major and later won both Dota Pit League Season 4 and WePlay! Dota 2 League Season 3. They finished 5-6th at both the Manila Major and The International 2016. After an early exit from the Boston Major, Febby left the squad in favor of Fnatic. Fnatic found mixed results in the first half of 2017, and Febby parted ways with the organization following their 17-18th placing at TI7.
Febby next represented Immortals, placing 3-4th at PGL Open Bucharest and 7-8th at DreamLeague Season 9 before signing with Mineski. Now under the new banner, he won AMD Dota 2 Pro Series 2018 and the DreamHack Mumbai Invitational. To start off 2019, Mineski placed 5-6th at ESL One Katowice, 9-12th at DreamLeague Season 11, and second at ESL One Mumbai. He was awarded the MVP title for the Mumbai event, despite their Grand Final loss. Febby left the team in March, and bounced around teams for the latter half of the year, ending 2019 as part of T1’s Dota 2 division.
Febby now reunites with former MVP Phoenix teammates Damien “kpii” Chok and Park “March” Tae-won on TNC Predator. He becomes the team’s head coach for DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major, though it is unclear if he will stay with the team following the event. Despite winning the season’s first DPC Major, TNC’s results began to slip as 2019 ended, taking only the third qualifying spot for the Leipzig Major and finishing 7-8th at the ONE Esports World Pro Invitational.
TNC Predator will next compete at the Leipzig Major, which is set to begin on January 18th.
