MNL48's Team Padayon has earned a spot in the playoffs of the Pokémon Unite AKB48 Group Invitational tournament, after defeating CGM48's Team Attack and BNK48's Yummy Remote in their Group B campaign earlier today.
In their first match against Chiang Mai's representatives, Team Padayon led by its captain Yzabel Divinagracia, who is playing as newly-added Dragonite, scored a number of points, however Sita Teeradechsakul, who is playing as Absol, along with the rest of Team Attack secured large number of goals, as well as a x2 Boost after knocking down Zapdos in the late game. This secured their first win in the best-of-three match.
In Round 2, Yzabel, alongside Jem Caldejon (playing as Tsareena), Kath Apduhan (playing as Talonflame), Miho Hoshino (playing as Blastoise), and Klaire Presno (playing as Wigglytuff), defended their lanes while securing large amounts of points, as well as knocking down Dreadnaw consecutive times in order to have an experience advantage against Team Attack.
This later translated into a victory after securing the aforementioned x2 Score Bonus, causing them to have a Goal Spree in Team Attack's lanes, while securing their own to push their opponents back in the hopes of scoring back.
This tactic from Team Padayon continued in Game 3, giving them a 2-1 match victory against Team Attack, and securing their spot in the Upper Bracket Final against BNK48’s Yummy Remote.
Come the Upper Bracket Final, Team Padayon scored their first few points in the opening round, but a hard-fighting Yummy Remote team, consisting of Korapat "Kate" Nilprapa (controlling Mamoswine), Jennis Oprasert (controlling Alolan Ninetales), Pichayapa "Namsai" Natha (controlling Sylveon), Warattaya "Kaimook" Deesomlert (controlling Wigglytuff), and Kunjiranut "Jane" Intarasin (controlling Talonflame), is pushing them back with clashes in the top and bottom lanes.
But Team Padayon aggressively pushed through with their gameplay, earning themselves large scores, knockdowns, and bonuses, while defending the goal points against Yummy Remote's advances, much like their earlier match against Team Attack. These tactics paid big dividends, as they produced a clean 2-0 sweep of their opponents and secured their slot to the playoff round.
On the other hand, Yummy Remote would go on to the Lower Bracket, where they defeated Amazons48 yet again in the Lower Bracket Final to fill the last playoff slot.
In the post-match interview, Yzabel gave props to the unity and aggressiveness that Team Padayon has displayed throughout their campaign, considering that they have to find time to practice as they also juggle school, idol duties and family time. “If (Team) Padayon was not united, we wouldn’t win at all”, she said.
Team Padayon is the only MNL48 representative that remains in the hunt for the tournament title which will be decided on January 16, Sunday. They'll be facing BNK48's Very Vary, who ended the campaign of MNL48 representative Stalwart League yesterday.
The winning team of the said invitational tournament will become the Brand Ambassadresses of the Pokémon-based multiplayer online battle arena game.