AEX ends three-game slump in '18 PGS Spring, trounces Infuzed in battle of bottom-placers to remain in playoff contention

The 2018 PGS Spring Split of the 2016 PGS Summer Split champions Acclaim EmpireX. Pro Gaming Series

By Ozzy Alaba

MANILA -- Misery is now finished for the 2016 PGS Summer kings.

Acclaim EmpireX (AEX) finally got its payback in their three-game losing streak as they pulled off a mini-reverse sweep against PGS returnees Infuzed eSports, 2-1 to stay alive in clinching a playoff berth in Day 2 of the sixth week of the 2018 Bacchus PGS Spring Split on Saturday.

AEX, who swept Naga eSports, 2-0 in Week 2 before dropping all their three games in a row to Mineski, Team Manila Eagles, and Barcy x Rage eSports, respectively, finally savored the moment of winning as they utilized their tank and hyper carry-packed team compositions properly in Games 2 and 3, highlighting AD Carry Jenel Hapitana’s stellar 7/3/15 kill-death-assist (KDA) record on Xayah in Game 2 and star jungler John Somollo’s 3/1/6 KDA on his signature Shyvana to complete the said sweep and notch the important W.

Hapitana and Somollo, more known as Jenvi and Tamsu, respectively also got a huge aid to Hapitana’s bot lane partner and AEX founder Lance Sherwin Andres as he amassed a combined team-high 36 assists on his tanky-support playstyle, which also helped in anchoring the six-man squad to the victory.

AEX’s sophomore mid lane Mark Paul Vagilidad also stepped up big, playing poke-powered champions like Azir and the unconventional Xerath, which resulted in a game-high 6.5 KDA Ratio in all of the games (13/6/26 KDA) and putting his 5/1/8 KDA on Xerath back in the PGS spotlights.

See-sawing was the main harmony of both squads in the curtain-raiser.

Both teams were constantly exchanging kills and objectives in the first 14 minutes, highlighting AEX’s continuous exchange of solo kills, headed by Somollo, playing as Zac and numerous clashes in the Dragon pit.

As AEX continues to scale, Infuzed (INF) continued to widen their margin as they took down more towers and objectives and won several encounters with the help of their mid laner Cassie Gumapas, playing as Zoe.

INF continued to balloon their edge at 4,200 gold, not until the 30^th minute as AEX’s late-game power propelled them to several clash wins.

But it was only short-lived as INF cut their chances immediately through wiping them in a jungle clash through Navalta's huge 3-man Let's Bounce and  rookie AD Carry Francis Matthew Cruz's 2-man Xayah's Bladecaller, 4 for 0, to get the upper hand

WOMBO-COMBO. AD Carry Francis Matthew Cruz (Kweng), playing as Xayah and jungler Albert Navalta, playing as Zac made a huge wombo-combo as Navalta connected a huge 3-man Let's Bounce on AEX's champions, giving Cruz a Double Kill in the game-ending teamfight in Game 1 of the best-of-three series.

AEX then reversed the flow of the waves in Game 2 as Vagilidad and Hapitana, playing as Azir and Xayah, respectively scaled hard down the stretch, carrying their team’s back through their montage-worthy plays and wise Baron Nashor calls, which let them have the opportunity to tie the series at 1 apiece. 

VENGEANCE. After a failed attempt of a comeback win in the first game, AEX (blue base) finally snatched a win as they wiped out INF (red base) through an Ace to tie the series at 1-1.

Riding the momentum high, AEX continued their strategy in the final game, letting Somollo, Hapitana, and Vagilidad carry the team again through the scaling power of Shyvana, Xayah, and Xerath, respectively, forcing INF to call the series GG in a lop-sided 30-minute skirmish.

Meanwhile, INF’s top laner Jeezzryll Romas had a decent performance in the series, bagging a combined 2.72 KDA Ratio (10/11/20 KDA), together with jungler Albert Navalta, who garnered a combined 2.13 KDA Ratio (9/15/23 KDA).

AEX, now 4-9 in the standings continues its quest for a playoff seed on Saturday against current third placers Team Manila Eagles (7-5), while INF tries to bounce back on the same day against Imperium Pro Team (6-6).

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