Two Filipino teams are now in the lower bracket of M2 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship as Smart Omega succumbed to Indonesian powerhouse RRQ Hoshi, 2-0, on Friday night at the Shangri-La Hotel.
Omega failed to capitalize on its advantage in the hard-fought series opener and never recovered from there as RRQ roared with a funneled hyper-carry Bruno in Game 2.
The MPL Philippines runner-up Omega joined PH champion Bren Esports in the lower bracket and this means that only one Filipino team could reach the grand finals of the $300,000 world championship.
Bren earlier suffered a stunning 2-0 sweep to Myanmar titlist Burmese Ghouls in the first upper bracket match.
The Smart-backed squad is set to face another Indonesian giant in Alter Ego Esports in the loser's bracket on Saturday.
Omega was able to get the upperhand in the back-and-forth Game 1 but crucial pickoffs on Jeniel "YellyHaze" Bata-anon's Selena and Salic "Hadjizy" Imam's Yi Sun-shin allowed RRQ to mount a comeback.
Behind Ling, Karrie and a very rowdy Benedetta, the Indonesian champions took the opener in 34 minutes with a tied 26-26 scoreline.
RRQ threw off Omega with an unorthodox draft in Game 2 featuring a hyper-carry Bruno surrounded by high-sustain heroes Rafaela, Silvanna, Belerick and Khaleed.
As Bruno secured his Berserker's Fury and Endless Battle, the "King of Kings" mowed down every Omega hero and closed out the 16-4 rout in just 10 minutes.
