JOHOR BARU: Team Vamos and Selangor Red Giants (SRG) may have taken different routes to the Grand Finals, but they are destined to meet to decide the champions of Season 14 of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Professional League Malaysia (MPLMY).
The Grand Finals will be held at the EduCity Sports Complex in Iskandar Puteri at 6.30pm today.
SRG have a stellar year so far, winning Season 13 and creating history by capturing the Mid Season Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier this year.
They continued that momentum, topping the table in Season 14 and qualifying for the playoffs as the No. 1 seeds.
Vamos were second on the table and had conceded a 2-0 defeat to their Grand Finals opponents.
But in the post-season, it was Vamos who looked stronger while SRG had to take the lower bracket route to reach the Grand Finals.
Vamos coach Khairul Azman "Pabz" Sharif said that his team are eager to clinch the Grand Finals title though they had achieved their target of qualifying for the M6 World Championships.
"We are not going to slow down despite achieving our target. Personally, there are a few players on this roster who SRG defeated in Season 13's Grand Finals.
"They aim to seek revenge for last season's defeat," said Khairul Azman.
Many of Vamos' team members were from Homebois who lost to SRG in the Season 13 playoffs Grand Finals.
As a coach, this is Khairul Azman's third straight MPLMY playoffs Grand Finals and fifth in six seasons.
He has won twice with two different teams - with Team Haq in Season 10 and Homebois in Season 12.
SRG were inspired by Haqqullah "Sekys" Ahmad Shahrul Zaman to return to winning form in the playoffs. He was named the Most Valuable Player in the Grand Finals and is seen as one of the best junglers in the world.
But due to the recent patch update, his performance faltered, leading to a poor show against Todak in the upper bracket semi-finals on Friday.
However, he recovered against Red Esports in the lower bracket semi-finals and then against Todak in the lower bracket finals.
A late night heart-to-heart talk with tactical coach Poon "OzoraVeki" Kok Sing led to his improved display.
"I was about to fall asleep on Friday night, but Veki came to my room and asked if anything was wrong after my poor performance against Todak in the upper bracket semis.
"I opened up to him and we had a deep conversation that led to my improvement against Red and Todak," said the 18-year-old.
Haqqullah said he is confident that SRG can defeat Vamos as momentum is on their side and they have a good record against their opponents.