RSG PH, Smart Omega enter playoffs in Mobile Legends Southeast Asia tiff

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine teams RSG PH and Smart Omega advanced to the playoffs of the Mobile Legends: Bang Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2022, finishing in the top two of their respective groups.

In the group stages, the 12 qualifying teams were divided into four groups fighting in a best-of-two single round robin format, with tiebreakers being broken in three different scenarios. First is by the shorter match victory duration; if it’s not settled then it will be decided by total kills on both side; and lastly by number of turrets pushed.

RSG PH recorded a clean sheet in Group B as they swept sister team RSG Singapore and Cambodia's See You Soon, 2-0. The tiebreaker rule came into play for Group B with RSG having a faster win time over See You Soon, eliminating the Cambodia team from the tournament.

Defending champions Smart Omega, for its part, had a rocky start after ending up with a draw in their first match of the tournament against Thailand's IDNS (IDONOTSLEEP) Esports. As tournament favorite RRQ Hoshi from Indonesia swept the Thai team 2-0, Smart Omega's quick defeat of IDNS at 14 minutes versus their loss in 23 minutes seemed to secure their playoff berth if ever a tiebreaker would be needed. 

But the Filipino squad did not settle for a tiebreaker rule to survive the group stages as they took a match from RRQ Hoshi, ending Group C with two draws. This was enough to eliminate Thailand's IDNS Esports and continue their title defense.

The MSC 2022 Playoffs will kick off at 12 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, with RSG Philippines facing off against Myanmar’s Falcon Esports. Meanwhile, Smart Omega wills go against host country bet TODAK.