Smart Omega, RSG PH rule Day 3 of MSC Playoffs

KUALA LUMPUR — Philippine teams RSG PH and Smart Omega asserted their dominance after sweeping their respective opponents EVOS SG and Malaysia's Orange Esports, 3-0,  during the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2022 Playoffs Day 3 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre here.

Smart Omega, which ruled last year's tournament by surviving the lower brackets and winning it all, started their MSC 2022 lower bracket campaign with a statement sweep over EVOS SG to keep their title defense bid alive.

Game One might have seen EVOS SG's Akihiro "JPL" Furusawa draw first blood, but Smart Omega was methodical in securing objectives and dissecting the Singaporean's draft for a 13-6 win in just under 18 minutes. Their dominance continued with a 23-7 win in just 12 minutes and 26 seconds in Game Two, positioning themselves to match point.

Backed into a corner, EVOS SG was able to prolong the game even after a wipeout of the Singaporean squad at the 14th minute with Raizen a few hits away from destroying the base inhibitor. The Singaporeans continued to survive Smart Omega's push to end the game, but Smart Omega's play at the 23rd minute after the lord take finally exhausted EVOS SG's defense as the Filipinos survived with a 19-11 win.

In the Upper Brackets, RSG PH extended its winning streak after sweeping Malaysia's Orange Esports, 3-0.

RSG PH took an early lead in Game One, winning clash after clash. An opportunity to end the game in 15 minutes saw Orange Esports managijg to defend thanks to lone surviving member Muhammad "Garyy" Syafizan, who bought his teammates time to respawn and pushed RSG out of their base. The Filipino Raiders kept their cool and quickly retaliated, winning the clash by the lord and ending the match at exactly 17 minutes.

An aggressive Orange Esports answered back with an early 9-5 lead and destroyed all turrets on the side of the Filipinos at the 11:44 mark. When the game approaching its final seconds, RSG PH managed to prolong the match by forcing the Malaysian team to make costly mistakes. The Filipino gamers secured the three lords and turned the tide en route to a 25-16 comeback.

Not wanting to prolong the match, RSG PH came out guns blazing in Game Three, pushing Orange Esports to the lower brackets with a 20-5 win to advance to the Upper Bracket finals.

Smart Omega will face Orange Esports in the Lower Bracket quarterfinals on Friday, June 17, while RSG PH will take on Indonesia's RRQ Hoshi in the Upper Bracket finals on Saturday, June 17.