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| Twisted Minds Philippines has a huge advantage in the wildcard race, but they could still say "Night night!" to their playoff hopes. MPL Philippines (file photo) |
MUNTINLUPA--Being the first pro league to give way to the Lenten season--partly due to the Snapdragon Pro Series Mobile Masters--MPL Philippines gave fans of Twisted Minds Philippines, AP Bren, and Smart Omega a two-week anxious wait as the teams' hopes of making the playoffs hang in the balance.
The three teams are just inches apart in the race for the sixth and last spot in the postseason, and one result, regardless if it's a win or a loss, could shake up the wildcard chase significantly.
That was exactly what happened on April 6 when Twisted Minds PH stunned TNC to gain a major advantage in the race for number six.
Followed by Team Liquid Philippines' sweep of Smart Omega later in the said night, Twisted Minds PH, which was at the bottom of the standings for most of the first six weeks of Season 15, is now holding the sixth spot, and with their remaining schedule, they hold huge control of their playoff fate.
Twisted Minds PH arguably has the "lightest" fixtures on paper left as they will face the other two teams chasing the last playoff ride on back-to-back nights this weekend.
Twisted Minds PH first battles Smart Omega on Friday night before taking on AP Bren the afternoon later.
Twisted Minds PH could clinch the sixth seed by the end of Week 7 if they sweep both Smart Omega and AP Bren and if both Smart Omega and AP Bren bow down to their tough opponents next.
Smart Omega battles Aurora on Saturday night, and AP Bren has defending champion Onic Philippines next on Sunday night.
Obviously, Smart Omega and AP Bren cannot afford to lose this weekend, especially against Twisted Minds PH.
However, if both Smart Omega and AP Bren sweep their Week 7 matches, trouble could face Twisted Minds PH in the final weekend of the preliminary phase because that would be the team's bye week, that is, they only have one match for Week 8 and it happens to be against Onic PH right on the last night of the regular season on May 4.
If the aforementioned case holds, Smart Omega and AP Bren's clash on May 2 could very well decide which team will complete the playoff cast, although it remains possible that either an Omega upset against Onic PH, AP Bren stunner against Team Falcons Philippines, or both could take place the night after--not to mention Twisted Minds PH could also shock Onic PH.
One thing to remember from Round 1: Smart Omega beat Twisted Minds PH, which beat AP Bren, which beat Smart Omega.
You know wild things could still happen, right?
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