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ESL One Malaysia 2022 keeps delivering with fans witnessing a 1v1 mid lane tiebreaker between Fnatic and Nigma Galaxy. Previously in the group stages, when both teams faced each other it ended in a tie, but this time, only the teams’ mid laners. Fnatic’s Armel "Armel" Tabios and Nigma Galaxy’s Syed "SumaiL" Hassan faced each other in a match that decided the fate of both their teams. The 1v1 ended up Armel’s victory, as he secured Fnatic’s slot in the upper bracket.
Armel and SumaiL Go Head to Head as Both Players Decides Upper Bracket Slot For Their Teams
The final day of the group stage does not disappoint as the community gets to see a tiebreaker. However, at first glance it looked like it would be a three way tiebreaker between Fnatic, Nigma Galaxy and TSM. But because TSM did not manage to secure a 2-0 victory against any teams in its group, they will be forced to play in the Lower Bracket of the Playoffs, according to ESL’s tiebreaker rules.
That meant that Fnatic will play Nigma Galaxy in the only tiebreaker of the day. However according to ESL’s rulebook, the only viable option for a tiebreaker in this case was to have both of the teams mid laner to play in a 1v1 matchup. Meaning that the audience got to see the infamous Shadow Fiend matchup as Fnatic’s Armel and Nigma Galaxy’s SumaiL go head to head.
The 1v1 matchup saw Armel outplayed SumaiL, with the latter making a mistake in itemization as the Bottle pickup did not worked up for SumaiL while Armel went with a lot of consumables which includes the utilization of Mangoes, Salve and Magic Wand. The match ended with Armel getting two kills over Sumail, ending the match as the conditions were either two kills over the enemy or if their tower was destroyed.
Following the win, Armel will now be preparing with Fnatic for the upper bracket playoff match that he secured. Fnatic will face Team Aster later today in a grudge match as it was defeated by the Chinese team at the Arlington Major while Nigma Galaxy will play against Thunder Awaken tomorrow at the main stage in the lower bracket of the tournament.
