Upsets galore in CODM Philippines preliminary rounds as RTL, vVv 10″ secure big wins

For a tournament that starts with 64 teams that will be ultimately cut down to 16, anything can happen and there’s absolutely no room for error. Convincingly, two teams certainly took note of that and lived up to the moment.

RTL Esports started the day with a bang as they made a statement by eliminating defending CODM Philippines National Champions CKG Anarchy with the score 2-0 in the first round while vVv 10″ upset the heavily favored and 2nd CODM Philippines top 4 placer PDR Esports 2-1 in the second round. With their respective wins, RTL Esports and vVv 10″ punched their way into the top 16.

“RTL Esports Legendary” photo by the RTL team

“I expected that it is going to be a close match between us because all of our past battles during last season’s Philippine National Championship (PNC) were close games. But then we felt happy and sad at the same time because it is hard to see one of the top teams here in PH go out in the first round of the tournament. I hoped our rematch was going to happen during the group stage or the playoffs but sadly, the time came earlier,” said RTL team captain Justin “Susanoo” Cecilio.

Photo from VVV Esports Facebook page

“We weren’t really expecting anything from it however, my teammates and I were committed and eager to giving PDR Esports a good fight. Therefore I would say that it was such a surreal experience to claim victory. They put up a challenging fight and summoned my team’s greatest efforts and potential. It was an exhilarating moment for all of us,” Christian Jeudi “JxS” Raymundo of vVv 10″ also shared.

RTL then had to survive a tough challenge coming from NRX No Mercy in the second round, winning a hard-fought 2-0 result in what was considered to be the “bracket of death” in order to proceed to the next round.

“We learned our mistakes during the last PNC. We slacked off and felt too confident. Now we work in silence and think that everyone can win against you. Even though we had arguably the hardest bracket, we pushed through it all,” Susanoo added.

On the other hand, Smart Omega won the clash of the titans matchup against VVV Esports 2-0, with the scores 150-96 in Hardpoint and 6-5 in Search and Destroy.

With the elimination of VVV Esports, PDR Esports and CKG Anarchy, this effectively ensures that 3 out of the 4 teams who played as finalists in the last CODM Philippines National Championship are already out of the competition.

Moreover, the results of the games were a big win for women as the Angel “Aurora” Aquino and Nicole “Wawu” Nakpil led PDR Bees and RFA of Jan Rochelle “Rekta” Domingo, both all-girl teams, securing slots in the top 16.

“We [PDR Bees] did not even expect that we would make it to the top 16 of the Philippines Championship 2021 as we think that it is always the boys who are expected to dominate a lot of competitions like this. Being a player in a girls’ team makes it a big achievement for me and my teammates to be in the top 16,” Aurora stated.

“I think we amazed everyone when it was known that 2 girl teams made it to the top 16 of PNC. We never expected this, we just enjoyed and gave our best. Making it to the top 16 of PNC is one of the achievements that we’re truly proud of. Esports definitely knows no gender and the game is indeed for everyone,” Rekta added.

AGL Animosity, FANTASMA, C8 Esports, Destra, ELEVATE, Velocity Esports, Ultimate E-Pro, TeamCreamy, DVK Rexus ALT, Sigra Esports, and Tokyo Osaka round out the teams in the top 16 that will play in the group stages slated to begin on August 23.

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