Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya’s late Lord steal in Game Three helped Nexplay EVOS escape Omega Esports in an unusual Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines Season Eight match, 2-1, on Sunday night.
With the win, Nexplay EVOS claimed the third seed heading to the MPL playoffs. They end the regular season with 23 points off a 7-7 standing.
In a series that featured Mobile Legends icons Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio and Billy “Z4pnu” Alfonso, Sanford stole the spotlight for himself.
Playing Benedetta, Sanford popped his Alecto: Final Blow to steal the Lord from Omega Esports. Nexplay EVOS then ran over the squad en route to the death push.
Sanford brought home the SMART 5G MVP in Game Three with two kills and five assists without a single death
The 10-6 win lasted 11 minutes and 27 seconds.
“Sa Game One, kasi kailangan namin one-win lang para ma-secure yung top three. Alam namin na puwede kaming matalo sa Game One so parang nilaro lang namin yun. Game Two, alam namin na mananalo kami tapos sa Game Three doon na serious mode,” said Dogie after the win.
During Game One, Nexplay EVOS utilized a five-man Flameshot which obviously failed to work as they fell in the opener via a 39-4 beatdown.
“Plano namin doon bugbugin si Z4pnu, patayin si Z4pnu. Parang alam namin na mananalo talaga kami like bigay na namin yung Game One niyo, okay lang chill sige. Game Two, alam naming mananalo kami then Game Three serious mode talaga,” said Dogie, a professional Mobile Legends player.
Nexplay EVOS claimed revenge in Game Two, putting up a whopping total of 61 kills to punish Omega Esports’ feeding Diggie strategy.
Omega Esports settled for the fourth spot with 19 points through a 5-9 win-loss standing.
