Gone are the days of early playoff exits for Nexplay EVOS.

Nexplay stamped its class against RSG Philippines with a sweep in their best-of-five duel at the start of the Season 8 playoffs of the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines on Thursday, October 21.

Rookie Jhonwin “Hesa” Vergara stole the spotlight as Nexplay won a playoff series for the first time in MPL Philippines history after crashing out of the first round in Seasons 6 and 7.

Selecting Nathan for the third straight game, Hesa delivered a flawless performance of 5 kills and 7 assists against 1 death in their come-from-behind Game 3 victory.

Momentum was on the side of RSG after it won most of the clashes late, but Nexplay employed a divide-and-conquer tactic by opting to split push to force the opposing side to defend its turrets.

His foes already out of position, Hesa went on a rampage as he picked up 4 of his 5 kills in the final clash, which saw Nexplay wipe out RSG en route to the 36-minute win.

John Paul “H2wo” Salonga (Paquito) delivered 6 kills and 6 assists against 3 deaths for Nexplay in Game 3, while Jeniel “YellyHaze” Bata-anon (Mathilda) had 1 kill and 13 assists against 3 deaths.

Nexplay will test its mettle against second seed Onic Philippines as they meet in the upper bracket on Friday, October 22.

It is already the end of the road for RSG in Season 8 after struggling to close out a game despite having the upper hand.

RSG had a chance to knot a series at 1-1 with a significant gold and turret advantage in Game 2 only to fizzle out in the end as Nexplay turned the tables behind Hesa and H2wo. – Rappler.com