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| The Chiefs Esports Club Twitter page |
By Ozzy Alaba
MANILA -- After being dumped last year, Oceania has finally rose into the ashes and got their vengeance really big this time.
Oceania (OCE) ultimately got its payback for its loss last year as it outlasted the surging Southeast Asian (SEA) Region, 3-1 to snatch the 2018 Pacific Rift Rivals crown at the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia, yesterday evening (Philippine time).
After placing dead last in the event's first version last year through their heartbreaking semifinal exit to ironically, SEA in a five-game bloodfest, 3-2, OCE finally showed its true strength as it finished the group stages with a combined 8-2 slate, including a 4-0 sweep of regional champions Dire Wolves (DW) in the process, a total improvement from its 3-3 record in 2017.
Despite their shocking loss in the opening game of the Finals, they never let their confidence slide down, and instead, fueled their outrage more until the end.
With SEA getting the first blood through a shocking 26-minute win of Philippine kings Mineski (MSK) over DW behind mid laner Eric Allen (Exosen) Gubatan's stellar performance on Ryze, OCE scored its vengeance as the third-seeded Legacy eSports (LGC) pulled off a 39-minute, 37-kill victory over GPL 2018 Spring champions Ascension Gaming (ASC), with mid laner Brandon (Claire) Nguyen's 17-kill onslaught with Zoe (7.75 KDA) on the spotlight.
And with that win, the Oceanians never looked back ever since.
OCE then racked back-to-back wins behind second-seeded Chiefs eSports Club (CHF)'s trampling of both MSK and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Hunters (KLH), that finally sealed their championship.
SEA, meanwhile, in spite of concluding the group stages with a so-so 4-6 card, failed to connect their gained momentum through their win in the curtain-raiser after being fully obliterated by the Australians in the next three games, causing their downfall.
With the win, OCE will join former champions Japan in the list of the Pacific Rift Rival winners.
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