NXP Evos takes third seed with win vs. Omega

Nexplay Evos

by Drew Malihan

MANILA - Nexplay Evos closed the regular season with a win as they trip down Omega Esports on the final match of the MPL Philippines Season 8 on Sunday.

It was a different setup for both teams as Nexplay fielded Dogie for the first time in the starting lineup while Omega emptied their reserves list playing Allidap, Dian, Raizen, Hito, and Z4pnu.

Nexplay went on to draft a Grock for Renejay and Claude for Yawi along with Estes, Hanzo, and Kimmy, while Omega went to a Lunox, Hayabusa, Yve, Thamus, and Franco for Z4pnu.

Omega went into the Land of Dawn in a dominant fashion as they went into their farms with ease as Nexplay went into Blacklist-likemode with all heroes with flameshot spells.

With a seemingly cheese picks from both players, Omega played the usual way and picking kills mostly on Yawi and Renejay, who played out of their positions for this matchup.

Z4pnu and the boys went onslaught and continue their dominant run to quickly end the match in under 13 minutes backed with performances of 14/0/5 from Raizen, 3/0/20 from Dian's Yve, and 5/0/16 from Z4pnu.

Omega went to a Saber core with Angela in support to go with Lapu Lapu, Minotaur, and Diggie, while NXPE fielded a Dogie core Granger and H2WO's Natan in the gold lane along with Chou, Thamus, and Aurora.

Hito, with the Diggie, went to a "feeding Diggie" strategy, popularized by Aura Philippines two seasons ago, but with the recent adjustments on Diggie, was unable to execute the strategy cleanly as H2WO and Dogie clipped kills on Hito.

NXPE's aggression snapped in the second game, with H2WO and Dogie getting their kills despite the Angela-Diggie with the sprint spell.

From there it was Nexplay Evos that grabbed the late game, but with Omega not defending the base, it was the red side minions who finished the game for NXPE with Dogie's 18/12/15 KDA.

Omega went to a Paquito core and Chou tank to pair with Kimmy, Phoveus, and Estes from substitute E2MAX who replaced Z4pnu, while NXPE went with Hylos, Khufra, Lunox, Natan, and Benedetta from substitute SanFord who replaced Yawi.

Omega wen to their old playstyle of getting kills while a nearby hero pushed the next lane, providing space for Raizen and Hito, leading them to get three turtles.

However, NXPE and Omega contested the lord but to no avail as both efforts resulted in a reset of the lord.

Both teams recontest the lord in the 10th minute but it was rookie SanFord who got the last laugh with the lord steal, while getting four Omega heroes in the process leading to a 2-1 win with SanFord's 2/0/5 KDA leading the team.

With the win, Nexplay Evos solidifies their position as third place with 23 points and a 7-7 record, while Omega stayed to fourth with 5-9 win loss record and 20 points in the bag.

Nexplay Evos will battle RSG Philippines and Omega will square off with familiar faces in Echo Philippines on the first day of the MPL PH Season 8 playoffs on October 15.

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