Naos Esports has qualified to the VCT 2022 APAC Challengers following its 2-0 sweep of South Built Esports in the second round of the upper bracket playoffs of the VCT 2022 Challengers PH.
Naos advanced to the upper bracket finals which assured them at least a top 3 finish in the tournament, allowing the squad to qualify to the regional competition. Naos will take on Action PH for the seat to the Grand Finals.
Although Naos scored a sweep, it was a hard-earned victory as it came through in the tight two game stretch over the gritty SBE side.
Naos even had to survive a blistering start from SBE which took the first four rounds of the opening map in its own map pick Icebox. Naos, though, endured the early onslaught and managed to hack a tied 6-6 tally at the half.
The game remained in a nip-and-tuck affair after the switch as SBE took a 10-8 lead. Naos, however, behind the efforts of KVZX and Blurred, stringed five straight rounds to nab the Game 1 victory from SBE with a 13-10 come-from-behind win.
KVZX ran wild on the Sova with game-high 30 kills en route to a 357 combat score.
The second game remained highly contested as Naos failed to sustain its hot start when it managed to build a commanding 7-2 lead midway through the first half. The squad struggled in the latter part of the first 12 rounds allowing SBE to close out the half strong to cut the deficit to two, 7-5 at the half.
It was a see-saw affair in the second half as the two squads traded round victories for a 10-all score at the 20th round of the game. The big guns of Naos, however, took over from that point as Blurred and Kakarot conspired to give Naos the three of the last four rounds to secure the 13-11 Game 2 win and the series victory.
Blurred on the Jett finished with 22 kills.
The upper bracket finals match between Naos and Action PH will be on Saturday, Feb. 26 while Southbuild Esports will take on Zeal Esports later in the day for the lower bracket semifinals slot.