Nexplay Evos recovered from a tough Game 1 loss to pull off a stunning 2-1 reverse sweep over rival Omega Esports and keep its Sibol National Team Selection campaign alive on Saturday, Jan. 29.
After suffering a wire-to-wire loss to Omega in the series opener, John Paul “H2wo” Salonga and Jeniel “Yellyhaze” Bata-anon took over in the last two games to help NXPE set up a date with Onic Philippines in the lower bracket semifinals.
H2wo, who was still recovering from a stomachache, bounced back from a lackluster performance in the series opener with a 5-1-9 KDA on the Lancelot in Game 2. He followed up his stellar game with an impressive jungle Saber pick in Game 3, finishing with a 3-2-7 showing, all while locking down Christian “Raizen” Sumagui’s Ling.
Yellyhaze, meanwhile went perfect in that two-game stretch unloading a 3-0-9 and 3-0-5 KDAs on the Cecilion in both games.
It looked like it will be all Omega in the series after a dominant 15-13 Game 1 win that saw them easily dissecting NXPE’s formation during the crucial clashes.
Nexplay looked in disarray during team fights to which Omega capitalized with effective zoning from Renzio’s Esmeralda during major objective takes.
Omega then needed the final Lord clash where E2max initiated a huge counterplay using his Kagura’s Yin-Yang overturn to catch three heroes of NXPE and eventually score the wipe out.
Nexplay, though refused to go down without a fight as it returned the favor in Game 2 with their own one-sided 16-7 win. H2wo wreaked havoc on his signature Lancelot, diving through the back lines to hunt down Omega core heroes during team fights.
Riding the momentum from the Game 2 win, NXPE fed on Donut’s early aggression to build a lead in the early game. Donut which went uncontested on his farm on the Wanwan, quickly reached his power spike to finish with an 8-1-3 KDA.
H2wo’s Saber and Yellyhaze’s Cecilion put the clamps on Raizen’s Ling and Patrick “E2max” Caidic’s Pharsa to punish Omega 14-5 in the series clinching Game 3