There is no stopping Filipino squad OB Esports x Neon’s rise in the ONE Esports Singapore Major.
The tournament’s last Southeast Asian squad left standing defied the odds anew, pulling a huge 2-1 reverse sweep against Chinese squad Vici Gaming. It advanced to the third round of the lower bracket playoffs, Friday evening.
OB.Neon has now secured at least a sixth-place finish in the first Dota Pro Circuit Major of the year after beating Fnatic and Vici Gaming, respectively, in the playoffs.
The Filipinos actually started the series on the wrong foot, failing to contain Chinese carry Yang “poyoyo” Shaohan’s Juggernaut, who spearheaded Vici Gaming’s 29-16 victory in just 37 minutes and 22 seconds.
Poyoyo finished with 14 kills and nine assists without a single death in the opener. Meanwhile, Vici Gaming team captain and support Ding “Dy” Cong’s Grimstroke dished out a game-high 24 assists along with two kills and three deaths.
Facing elimination, the troika of Gabriel “debil_2000” Ong (Nature’s Prophet), Erin “Yopaj” Ferrer (Puck), and stand-in Yang “Deth” Wu Heng (Timbersaw) put in the work in Game Two to return the favor to the Chinese squad.
Debil_2000 filled the stat sheet with 11 kills and 18 assists against two deaths. Yopaj finished with 10 kills and 23 assists against a death. Deth, meanwhile, had 12 kills and 21 assists against a death as the trio took charge in OB.Neon’s 39-13 Game Two domination of Vici Gaming.
Game Two lasted for exactly 36 minutes and 44 seconds.
Another excellent Puck performance for Yopaj in Game Three pretty much sealed the deal for OB.Neon. The 19-year-old midlaner finished with a perfect 13-0-9 stat line to finally boot out Vici Gaming.
OB.Neon will face a daunting challenge once more as they face title favorite and global powerhouse Team Secret tomorrow.
