Smart Omega bolstered their playoff aspirations with a crucial 2-1 victory over AP.Bren during the final week of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 12 at the Shooting Gallery Studios in Makati City on Friday.
They surpassed Minana Evos (5-8) in the standings, holding a 6-6 record with 17 points. The only other contender, ONC Philippines (5-6), has 15 points.
This result also ensured that Echo secured the top spot heading into the playoffs.
Omega’s head coach, Ronel “Stronger” Tan, explained that after narrowly losing Game 1, they decided to disrupt AP.Bren’s objective positioning with diversionary plays, which proved effective in the final two games. Notably, Nowie “Ryota” Macasa (Paquito) abstained from participating in the lord dances in Game 2, maintaining a 0-1-0 KDA but destroying two enemy inhibitor turrets that greatly contributed to Omega’s comeback win.
“After Game 1, we realized that they take a long time to secure the lord and tend to draft split pushers. We decided to engage them in that aspect and put pressure on their sides because they are slow in deciding whether to go for the lord or not,” explained Stronger.
“Bren is strong in the lord dance, so our strategy was really to break them apart, make it hard for them to decide whether they would defend or dance. That’s what we did,” further elaborated Omega’s captain, Patrick “E2max” Caidic, regarding their approach in Game 2.
The key plays in Game 2 were executed by Kyle Angelo “KyleTzy” Sayson (Baxia), who outretributioned Ron Matthew “Matt” Papag (Akai), securing all turtle buffs and winning all four lord fights. His most significant contribution came in the 26th minute when he secured the evolved lord during a disadvantageous 4-on-5 lord dance, ultimately leading to their victory. KyleTzy finished with a 1-1-3 KDA and did not concede any objectives to Matt throughout the game.
Despite a lackluster start, Matt (Baxia) redeemed himself by securing a crucial lord objective in the 23rd minute, enabling Omega to regain control of the map. Kelra (Beatrix) took charge during the 27th-minute lord dance, leading a 2-0 pickoff that resulted in a series-equalizing base turret siege in the 28th minute.
In Game 3, Omega continued their dominance against AP.Bren, with E2max (Gord) leading the way with a solid 1-1-3 KDA in the low-scoring match.
AP.Bren will have another opportunity to secure the last upper bracket berth when they face Echo on October 14.
