Both squads survived five-game thrillers — ONIC outlasting Aurora, and Team Liquid PH pulling off a reverse sweep against Team Falcons PH — to punch their tickets to the MPL-PH S15 upper bracket finals.
One delivered when it mattered. The other refused to fold when the pressure peaked.
Defending champions ONIC Philippines proved clutch once again, surviving a wild five-game thriller against Aurora Gaming, 3-2, to reach the upper bracket finals of the MPL Philippines Season 15 playoffs on Thursday, May 30.
The Super Family came up big in the winner-take-all Game 5, securing a critical Lord and completing a five-man wipe to close out the series with a 23-11 win.
“After ‘nung tinower lock namin 'yung base, inaantay lang namin ‘yung perfect timing para i-go sila,” Onic’s Grant "Kelra" Pillas bared in the post-game press conference.
And they did.
Borris “Brusko” Parro sparked the chaos with a perfectly timed Way of the Dragon that caught Aurora jungler Jhonard “Demonkite” Caranto’s Hayabusa out of position.
That gave King “K1NGKONG” Perez a free Lord take before Jann “Kirk” Gutierrez followed up with a double kill to complete the five-man wipe and a 23-11 series-clinching win.
K1NGKONG ran circles around Aurora with his Ling, tallying a dagger 12-2-5 KDA. Brusko added a 1-3-15 line while Kelra provided consistent firepower with a 4-2-11 outing on Harith.
It marked ONIC PH’s second straight Game 5 victory after surviving Twisted Minds in the playoff opener.
[ALSO READ: Champion ONIC PH survives scare, Falcons spread wings in MPL-PH Season 15 playoff opener]
Earlier, Aurora opened the series strong behind Renejay “RENEJAY” Barcase’s sneaky setups using Chip to take the opening salvo.
But Onic responded in the next two games, leaning on Allen “Super Frince” Baloy’s Zhuxin (5-0-8) and Selena (1-1-8) to take the lead.
“Ang pinakamahalaga kasi sakin ‘yung recovery. Lahat ng napag-usapan namin on how to play the game, napakita kanina in all aspects,” ONIC PH head coach Anthony "YnoT" Senedrin said.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Team Liquid PH showed nerves of steel, completing a dramatic reverse sweep of Team Falcons in another five-game slugfest to join ONIC PH in the upper bracket finals.
Kiel “Oheb” Soriano powered the comeback with multiple standout performances, but it was Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno who sparked the turnaround with a flawless 6-0-6 Hayabusa performance in Game 3.
“Sabi ko sa kanila, ‘Burahin nila yung nangyari nung Games 1 at 2,’” said Team Liquid PH head coach Rodel “Ar Sy” B. Cruz. “Sabi ko, BO1 mindset lang. Tapos nag-call si Sanji na tiwala lang. Isang panalo lang, dire-diretso na natin — at ‘yun nga ‘yung nangyari.”
Team Liquid PH capitalized on a crucial overextension by Falcons' FlapTzy during a 20th-minute Lord fight in Game 4, converting it into two pickoffs and the Lord to force a decider.
Riding a wave of momentum, the MPL Season 13 champs overcame an early deficit in Game 5 to avenge their Sibol national team selection loss to the same team.
The winner of ONIC PH-Team Liquid PH showdown will advance to the Grand Finals, while the loser will drop to the lower bracket finals to meet the survivor of the RORA-Team Falcon duel.