NRX Jeremiah 29:11 dismantled the hapless FunPlus Phoenix, 3-0, to inch closer to the playoffs of the Call of Duty Mobile (CODM) World Championship 2020-Garena Qualifiers on Thursday night.
The Filipino crew did not let its guard down despite facing a winless Taiwanese team as it solidified its spot in the playoff picture with a third straight win.
NRX improved to seven points, forging a three-way tie with Indonesia's Dunia Games Esports and Singapore's Divinity.Uprising at No. 2 of the six-team online qualifiers.
"Pinaghandaan talaga namin 'yung FPX. Ayaw namin makampante dahil isa sila sa malalakas kahit sila ang nasa bottom. Mataas ang respeto namin sa team na 'yun kaya binigyan namin sila ng magandang laban" said NRX coach Michael "Kyaaah" Belaya in a message to the Manila Bulletin.
(We really prepared for FPX. We don't want to be complacent because they are of the strong teams even if they are at the bottom. We have respect for them that's why we gave them a good fight).
NRX only needs to win a single map against leader Daivo.FreeSlot of Thailand at 7 p.m. today for a secured spot in the playoffs.
NRX came out with guns ablaze in Hardpoint at the Crossfire even after a 30-minute delay to the start of the series due to one FPX player's disconnection.
Team captain JC "Jayzee" Rivera and Benj "CRUSH" Trinidad made a big retake of the Tailor Shop to help NRX break away from a seesaw game and eventually take a 150-85 win in the first map.
NRX once again pulled away from an early deadlock in Search and Destroy at the Crash as it won four straight rounds, 6-2, with Kennedy "iDra" Mondoy and Jerrold "Woopiiee" Regay leading the charge.
Both iDra and Woopiiee registered nine kills, with the latter hitting two clutch flicks with his DL Q33 sniper in the closing round.
CRUSH utterly crushed FPX in Domination at the Standoff as he hit eight straight frags highlighted by a four-kill Predator Missile.
He finished with 25 kills and 20 assists against 10 deaths to lead NRX to 150-64 victory.
