After a costly mistake in Game One, Dexter “Exort” Martinez took over in the decider as Nexplay Esports completed a 2-1 reverse sweep of ONIC PH to move a point away from a playoff berth in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines Season Seven regular season, Sunday night.
The former Geek Fam PH core was all over the map in Game Three, finishing with a game-high nine kills laced with eight assists and just a death in the 24-7 Game Three victory en route to the SMART MVP award.
With ONIC PH lacking the early game damage, Exort wreaked havoc all over the map in Game Three — spearheading skirmishes to give Nexplay Esports a dominant start to the game.
That seemed to be the story of the match as Nexplay Esports never lost grip of the lead to seal the 2-1 reverse sweep.
“Yung Lunox saka Akai po parang sure kill po sila, parehas po silang comfort pick namin ni Yawi tapos ang ganda po ng communication namin,” said Exort in the post-match interview.
The win put Nexplay Esports at the third spot in Group B with 17 points through a 6-6 record. The Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio-coached squad only needs a solitary point to claim a seat in the playoffs.
Nexplay Esports brought out the guns in Game One, taking advantage of their early game prowess to secure a comfortable lead in the initial part of the game
However, ONIC PH was able to drag the game long enough to catch Nexplay Esports’ mistakes and turn the game around.
Exort (Mathilda) initiated a clash near the Lord pit to try and take down the indestructible Esmeralda of Christian “Iy4knu” Manaog, but his Circling Eagle brought him right into the hands of ONIC PH — resulting in a death.
The clash saw Exort and John Paul “H2wo” Salonga’s Yi Sun-Shin, paving the way for a free Luminous Lord for ONIC PH.
Iy4knu won the SMART MVP award in Game One, finishing with three kills, three deaths, and eight assists while also soaking a total of 343,068 damage in the match that lasted for 32 minutes and 48 seconds.
After dropping a tightly contested opener, Nexplay Esports came back in Game Two. Only this time, they got their comfort picks to match up against ONIC PH.
With the Akai in Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera’s hands, Nexplay surged right out of the gates as soon as the clock started and never looked back.
Renejay “RENEJAY” Barcarse’s Chang’e notched the SMART MVP plum with three kills, a death, and six assists in the 16-4 Game Two win.
ONIC PH fell to the fourth spot in Group A with 16 points through a 6-5 record.
The loss on ONIC PH solidified Aura PH’s place in the upper bracket playoffs — joining Group B leader Blacklist International.
ONIC PH, along with Group A hopefuls Bren Esports and Work Auster Force will fight for the last upper bracket slot in the group.
Nexplay Esports will next face the league-leading Blacklist International on Saturday at 4:30 pm while ONIC PH looks to bounce back against rival Aura PH on Friday at 7:30 pm.
