NRG stormed to victory against Snake eSports, taking a quick 3-0 victory to advance to the Semi Finals. They outclassed the opposition, locking out the attack on Hollywood, Numbani, and Gibraltar.

NRG had the easiest of the Quarter Finals on paper, facing up against eighth seed from groups Snake eSports. NRG had slammed through their group, wiping away VICI Gaming and the self same Snake eSports in straight maps. Snake limped back through the wildcard matches to get the final seed in the quarters but had been set up with a rematch to progress in the tournament. The playoffs were also being played on a new patch, with slight tweaks to Ana, Junkrat, and Widowmaker released just two days before.

Hollywood

NRG defended with a triple tank setup featuring Ana and Lucio, while Key and MengMao preferred the poking power of McCree and Hanzo on attack. Seagull’s damage gave him a Blizzard immediately which they used to hold off the first fight, while a Nanoboost and an Earthshatter let milo negate the second. The pick composition that Snake ran was their only play, and they couldn’t possibly burst down the three tanks and Mei from distance. NRG sat back and ate up their half-hearted pushes, locking them out on the first point.

Image credit: @Sylviainiyo

NRG on attack decided to go with the pick composition as well, but with a Hanzo and Roadhog. Seagull’s Dragon Strike into a Graviton Surge was the precise play that Snake had been unable to create for themselves on attack, doing a ton of damage and setting up the attack for an instant and easy map win. MengMao had one last chance to recontest and took a Nanoboost and Blossom into the point to pick up three, but couldn’t get enough bodies in and lost Hollywood. Key was unable to hit anywhere near the level that Seagull brought to defensive Mei, and overall on Hollywood Snake were massively outclassed.

Numbani

Gods again picked up the Hog, using the exact same composition defence they had succeeded with on Hollywood. Snake threw in a Roadhog themselves rather than the previous map’s Hanzo, and with the triple tank attack they managed to survive a slightly late Blizzard from Seagull and hook another to take the first point. After dodging a Nanoboosted Reinhardt, Key moved forwards with a Deadeye that he held onto. He slowly walked past an Icewall and the payload to catch NRG unawares and find three kills he never should have been allowed. This pushed NRG all the way back to checkpoint two where Seagull was forced to defend with a clutch Blizzard.

With two minutes left Snake committed all of their ultimates to an extended and messy fight that looked dire, but they eventually pulled it around with a key support ultimate from Zaya. Coming into the final checkpoint both teams slammed into each other - tense Deadeyes were popped from opposite sides of the map but in the final milliseconds got sniped down to negate both. The conservative ultimate use from NRG gave them an ace up their sleeve whenever they lost a fight though and they were able to delay for long enough to block out the cart from finishing, at 71.05m.

Image credit: @Sylviainiyo

NRG’s attack saw enigma playing Reaper rather than Zarya to burst down the tanks from Snake - they didn’t get a perfect read on the defensive composition which had an unorthodox lineup of Reinhardt/Winston/Hog/Pharah, without a Mercy to pair, but the odd nature of the lineup saw it crumple as their frontline was demolished by the deathball of NRG. dummy gave them a smart offensive advantage in fights by throwing down Biotic Grenades whenever possible, denying all healing, while Gods played his Hog as much more of a dps role, often going for raw damage with enigma over hooks in fights. They obliterated Snake, ripping them apart and completing the map in under four minutes.

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Snake had one last chance to hold onto their APAC Premier run, but so far had completely underwhelmed. MengMao pulled out the first Widowmaker of the day, fresh off the patch with a faster quick-scope, alongside a Roadhog and Reaper. NRG set up in server room with all of their team and avoided the sightlines, but wanted to take the fight aggressively as the payload reached the top of slope. Seagull went on the offensive to pressure down Widowmaker as Mei, as one of the only players on his team who could flank with their tanky composition, but his team sorely missed the damage and area control, and lost the first checkpoint. They hadn’t been wiped though and easily took position in hangar, but once again when they dropped down they lacked the killer instinct and wasted their early advantage, losing the second area.

NRG looked much more shaky on the defense up until the final stretch, and Snake were able to get the payload within three metres of the end before NRG could finally win a teamfight. They had to hold for two minutes and started well with a perfect Graviton from enigma, following it by completely evading a Nanoboosted Reaper in the following fight. With one minute left, MengMao hit a spree of headshots while 700 and Key caught a few in a Graviton below, giving them one last chance to convert. NRG swarmed out of spawn and built up the last percentages of their ultimates to pop off on Zarya, Ana, and Lucio and lock out Snake yet again.

Image credit: @Sylviainiyo

NRG tried a triple tank alongside Mei to dominate the slope attack, isolating targets that poked in and getting early picks to blast open the first checkpoint within seconds. As the payload rolled into hangar, Seagull swapped off to Genji but Snake had already taken the aircraft and battered back their slow advances. A little bit of Seagull magic as he slipped into the backlines finally opened up the fight and forced Snake off their position, letting NRG mop up and giving them over three minutes to crack the final area and win the Quarter Final.

Snake looked powerless to stop Seagull, despite his Genji play not being supported particularly. He combined with enigma on Reaper to pile damage into the spawning Snakes, and the two took their team to an easy 3-0 victory.

NRG progressed to the Semi Final, awaiting the victor of Lunatic-Hai and VICI Gaming.