AP.Bren pa rin malakas.
As the MPL Philippines Season 13 playoffs draw closer, each team are keeping their nose on the grindstone to earn more points to book a ticket to the postseason.
With only two weeks left in the regular season, the fifth week of MPL Philippines just got more interesting as we witnessed teams head claim their spot to the next round,
while some are still holding tight to their playoff dreams.
Day 1: ECHO back in the winning column, and RSG ends ONIC’s seve-game win streak
ECHO bounced back from their back-to-back losses last week against Minana Esports and ONIC Philippines, making quick work of Smart Omega on Friday at the Shooting Gallery Studios in Makati City.
In the opening game, Omega showcased a sturdy defense of their turf to hold off ECHO, and during the 20-minute period, the lord favored the Barangay Omega.
However, the moment of truth arrived when Alston "Sanji" Pabico made a back-door surprise at the bottom lane with Lou Yi’s Diversion.
Sanji’s clever gameplay on Lou Yi earned him an MVP citation with a 4-2-15 KDA.
In game two, Smart Omega secured the first lord uncontested, which allowed them to take over map control against ECHO.
The momentum was looking good for Smart Omega with the second lord marching on their side, but the crucial moment was the last-minute push to ECHO’s base.
Smart Omega’s pushing mechanism fell short, which created enough space for ECHO to defend their base.
Jungler Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno’s clutch play on Nolan led to a maniac elimination of the Omega squad and sealed the victory.
KarlTzy got the MVP citation on Nolan with a 7-2-6 KDA and 87% kill participation.
Meanwhile, RSG and ONIC were both striving to continue their win streaks in the regular season, but only one went home with their winning run untouched.
In game one, ONIC drafted Ruby, Edith, and Vexana as an answer to RSG’s crowd control draft consisting of Kaja, Fredrinn, and Arlott.
RSG gave a masterclass on discipline as the Raiders only conceded one death against the Sonics.
Quick to get back on their feet, RSG traded a one-man elimination to wipe out ONIC.
It’s a lucky seven for exp laner Nathanael "Nathzz" Estrologo, after scoring 7-0-5 KDA, 705 gold per minute, and 75% kill participation.
Game two shared a familiarity with game one, as RSG led with a huge margin in gold and map control.
RSG rolled to their fifth-straight win, halting ONIC’s seven-game run.
Day 2: AP.Bren, ONIC, ECHO, and RSG advance to the playoffs
AP.Bren reserve exp laner Vincent “Pando” Unigo stepped up and delivered a stellar debut, helping the defending champions to secure the first playoff spot against the TNC Pro Team.
In game one, Pando came off the bench and performed excellent zoning and aggression in objective contention against TNC.
Pando’s agile Benedetta was hailed as the MVP with a 2-2-4 KDA.
AP.Bren continued to snowball until game two.
During the 16-minute mark lord contention, TNC tried to steal the lord, but it led to a disaster for them as AP.Bren quickly answered with a finishing rundown.
Rowgien "Owgwen" Unigo clinched the MVP title for Edith with a 3-2-7 KDA.
Next up, ONIC quickly recovered from their loss against RSG after beating Smart Omega via sweep, becoming the second team to book a ticket to the playoffs.
In game one, ONIC staved off Omega in the 14-minute lord dance and eliminated three of their members as a bonus to finish off the game.
Jomearie "Escalera" Santos’ roamer Arlott was awarded the MVP badge with a 2-1-9 KDA.
Smart Omega showed noticeable improvements in game two, holding off ONIC and prolonging the game.
The minions from Omega’s side nearly ended ONIC if Frince "Super Frince" Ramirez and King "K1NGKONG" Perez did not deliver clutch defense.
Smart Omega managed to steal the last lord, but ONIC outplayed them. Coming from behind, ONIC surprised Omega’s positioning.
K1NGKONG earned the MVP citation on Nolan with a 6-1-10 KDA.
Rising with an aggressive play style, Blacklist International halted their four-game losing skid after beating the gritty Minana Esports.
In game one, Blacklist International switched up their style of play, flaunting balanced defense and offense against Minana.
Exp laner Edward “Edward” Dapadap’s signature Paquito helped the Codebreakers snap their skid with a perfect 4-0-5 KDA.
Early game aggression favored Blacklist International, but Minana denied their hopes for an easy sweep with an epic comeback.
In game two, the Codebreakers’ lead slowly slipped away after Ken "Kzen" Pile’s lord steal for the White Tigers at the 17-minute mark.
Minana disrupted the Blacklist’s formation in the last clash and delivered the final blow to their defenseless base, tying the series with one apiece.
Brain "SpiderMilez" Santos’s Rafaela led the White Tigers in pouncing the Codebreakers with perfect kill participation and a 3-0-13 KDA.
In game three, Blacklist followed the same playbook, yet more polished, asserting dominance in the early game until the late game.
Blacklist’s Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo on Lou Yi with a 2-1-14 KDA propelled his squad to return to the winning column.
With fewer points to fight for, ECHO and RSG were the third and fourth teams to advance to the playoffs, respectively.
Day 3: ECHO end RSG five-win streak, Blacklist back-to-back wins
ECHO put an end to RSG's streak of five consecutive wins, taking the victory via sweep in the MPL-PH Sunday opener.
In game one, the momentum favored the Raiders until Frederic "Bennyqt" Gonzales scored a triple kill on Ixia and KarlTzy managed to steal the enhanced lord.
Creating enough space for the Orcas to breathe, they pressured the Raiders’ base and mounted a comeback.
In game two, ECHO continued their dominance against RSG.
KarlTzy earned back-to-back MVP badges with Nolan and Guinevere.
On the other hand, the redemption arc continued for Blacklist International, as they outlasted the TNC Pro Team in a grueling best-of-three matchup.
In game one, Jiro "Nomed” Pineda on Bruno stunned the Blacklist with the first savage recorded this season.
Nomed performed excellent marksmanship with an 8-1-4 KDA.
However, the Codebreakers mounted a reverse sweep for back-to-back wins this week.
To cap off this week’s action, AP.Bren dealt Minana’s second loss this week.
The defending champs returned to the summit of the regular season standings with 27 points, ahead of ONIC in second with 24 points.
MPL-Philippines regular season action will resume on April 26.