THE SECOND SEASON of the CODM Garena Masters has been as explosive as ever, with the best teams from the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia duking it out for the title.
Now only eight teams remain (five of which are PH teams) as the tournament shifts into playoff mode.
In the all-Filipino showdowns in the playoff brackets, Blacklist Ultimate faces Tyrant Esports in the first head-to-head, while Mamba LowKings dukes it out against C8 United in the second matchup.
Meanwhile, Smart Omega faces Malaysia's Huntsmen in the third bracket.
Former teammates face each other in Blacklist vs Tyrant
Blacklist’s John Benedict “JaBen” Julio once shared the battlefield with Tyrant Esports’ Justin “Susanoo” Cecilio and Wacky Andrei “Wacky” Endaya in RTL Esports over a year ago. The trio had their fair share of games together, competing in several tournaments.
However, their run was cut short due to some internal issues, and they ended up going their separate ways. JaBen went on and joined Ultimate E-Pro, which then on became Blacklist International Ultimate after they won the PH championship. The rest is history... Five straight championships and still hungry for more.
On the other hand, Wacky and Susanoo transferred to Tyrant and had their fair share of mishaps along the way. They have seemingly found their groove with this team after winning the Garena Youth Challengers championship and are looking for more.
More than the personal tussle between these former teammates, JaBen, Wacky and Susanoo are setting their sights solely focusing on one goal: to win a championship for their squad.
Establishment of reputation for Mamba LowKings and C8 United
After their third-place finish in Garena Masters Season 1, Mamba LowKings are looking forward to showing they are now the second-best PH team behind Blacklist, besting crowd favorites Smart Omega.
Blacklist and Smart Omega have been considered the two best teams in the Philippines, with Smart Omega conquering the PH scene in 2020 while Blacklist did their way in 2021.
However, due to recent struggles in past tournaments, Omega has lost a bit of their luster. Along with the rise of the LowKings, they certainly can secure the bragging rights for a spot at the top of the PH CODM scene.
Meanwhile, C8 United are out to prove themselves they are not lagging far behind C8 Legacy in the wide portfolio of C8 esports teams. Legacy has so far been recognized, although unofficially, as the top team in C8 Esports for their achievements and accolades in both minor and major tournaments.
However, with Legacy being booted out so early in the competition, United are taking the cudgels to banner the C8 flag, aiming to do just as well or even better than Legacy, and find their niche through this tournament.
Both teams can achieve and fulfill their goals after they go head-to-head against each other.
Smart Omega faces familiar foe in Malaysia’s Huntsmen
Smart Omega’s road to redemption has been great thus far, securing the top seed in the bracket by scoring 16 map wins against only 2 map losses. The ‘kings of old’ are showing flashes of their dominant selves once again.
In this journey to be back at the top however, Smart Omega faces a familiar foe: Malaysian squad Huntsmen. This matchup will be an all-time throwback, as well as a nostalgic one as the former kings of the Philippines and Malaysia from 2020 meet once again (albeit with some personnel changes).
The core and the names are still there, though, so it will be interesting to see how things will pan out.
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