Omega's Pakbet picks RSG over Blacklist as toughest opponent yet

Ever since their Cinderella run in Season 7 where they crawled back from deep in the lower bracket to reach the grand finals, the core of the Omega Esports roster—then bannering Execration—has made a name for themselves with their MLBB Southeast Asian Cup conquest and MPL PH championship contentions.

During their MSC 2021 championship run, they faced the top teams across Southeast Asia and definitely got a taste of how strong the other MPL regions have become. 

They've also figured into lengthy series matches against M3 World Champions Blacklist International that included a 4-3 loss in the MPL PH Season 7 grand finals, a 4-1 win in the MSC 2021 grand finals and a close 3-2 loss in the MPL PH Season 8 lower bracket finals.

But despite the richness in experience against top-tier teams here and abroad, Coach Jomie "Pakbet" Abalos still considers MPL PH Season 9 champions RSG Philippines as their toughest rival so far out of all the teams they faced in tournaments.

"Siguro mas mahirap 'yung RSG ngayon (kalaban kumpara sa Blacklist) kasi sobrang galing nung mid nila, lalo si Demonkite. Ang hirap niya i-predict kung pano siya mag-call," he said.

Minsan uma-out sila eh. Minsan bine-burst nila 'yung lord kaya ayun rin siguro ang titingnan namin pag nakalaban namin ang RSG—'yung mid nila kung paano gumalaw," he added.

Coach Pakbet also expressed how hard it was to find the right draft against a surging RSG squad that forced them to explore a Karina-Karie-Estes draft in Game 5 of the grandfinals.

"Pinaka nahirapan kami, i-adjust 'yung draft namin. Kasi hindi na siya gumagana laban sa RSG. 'Yung last game namin tinry namin 'yung Estes pero ayun, kinapos lang nang konte," he said.

But all is not lost for Omega as they are confident that they will once again make a repeat of their 2021 run where they avenged their MPL PH loss to Blacklist with a dominant MSC 2021 grand finals performance.

"Pag nagkatapat tayo sa Finals (ng MSC). Antayin n'yo 'yung bawi namin. Ganti ng api," Patrick "E2MAX" Caidic said.

—MGP, GMA News