John Paul “H2wo” Salonga was a man on a mission in Game 4 as he towed Nexplay Evos to a 3-1 victory over RSG Philippines in the best-of-five lower bracket finals of the 2022 Sibol National Team Selection on Sunday, Jan. 30.
NXPE’s Sibol dream run continues as it only needed four games to stop RSG PH and set up a date with destiny in the Grand Finals against Blacklist International later in the day at 6 p.m.
H2wo capped a series-long brilliance with an uber-efficient 11-1-1 score on his jungle Paquito, carrying his squad to a 16-12 win in the series clinching Game 4.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair in the last game as the two squads traded blows and outplays in every full five-on-five clashes. H2wo, though, rose to the occasion and made the clutch plays in the late game, highlighted by his 2 vs 5 outplay against RSG where he scored three kills – his ninth straight in Game 4 before he got shut down.
That play allowed NXPE to secure the Lord and wipe out RSG inhibitor turrets. The MPL PH S8 fourth placers then finished off RSG in the next Lord push with H2wo once again scoring a double in the final clash.
NXPE started the game red hot with Cadenza perfect initiation enabling his core heroes in Donut’s clint and H2wo’s Hayabusa. The rookie tank shone with a 0-1-11 line along with a pair of highlight plays his tank Jawhead,
The duo of Donut and H2wo unleashed an impressive of 4-0-6 and 8-3-2 KDAs to power the squad’s 14-7 Game 1 triumph.
RSG solved the Jawhead puzzle in Game 2 as the Raiders punished Cadenza every time he tried to make a play for NXPE. As a result, Demonkite on the Benedetta and Iy4knu on the Brody went untouchable in their farms finishing wit 6-0-1 and 7-14 KDAs respectively. RSG tied the series 1-1 after a fiery 15-4 Game 2 onslaught
Anchored on H2wo’s jungle Saber pick, Nexplay raced to an early lead which went to waste after couple of big plays from RSG allowed them to seize control of the match.
Nexplay, though, banked on its double tank setup in Ureshii’s Gloo and Cadenza’s Grock to make the plays, none bigger than final clash where NXPE scored a four-man wipe. NXPE took a 2-1 series lead after its 16-12 Game 3 win.