Defending champion ONIC Philippines is the first to the MPL Season 15 Grand Finals, while Team Falcons PH kept their title hopes alive.
ONIC Philippines moved one step closer towards a title repeat after sweeping Team Liquid PH, 3-0, in their upper bracket finals duel in the MPL Philippines Season 15 playoffs on Friday, May 30.
The win sends ONIC PH to its second straight Grand Finals appearance, where it will try to secure back-to-back MPL PH titles on Sunday, June 1.
“Masaya kasi nakabalik kami sa MSC,” Duane “Kelra” Pillas said in the post-game press-conference. “Pero sa ngayon, hindi pa namin iniisip ‘yung EWC kasi may Grand Finals pa.”
The defending champions capped off a dominant showing with ruthless precision, dominating Game 3 with an 11-2 win.
Kelra led the charge with a flawless 6-0-2 KDA on Irithel, punctuating a performance defined by control, tempo, and relentless execution.
Earlier in the match, King “K1NGKONG” Perez steered the squad to back-to-back victories in Games 1 and 2, consistently outmaneuvering Team Liquid PH’s Karl “Karltzy” Nepomuceno in jungle skirmishes and objective control.
In fact, ONIC’s sweep marked the first and only 3-0 victory of the postseason — a stunning turnaround after surviving back-to-back five-game slugfest earlier in the playoffs.
“Pinagkaiba lang ngayon, sa loob ng game, wala kaming iniisip kundi mag-enjoy lang. Mas naging klaro ‘yung plano namin sa game, at mas naging klaro lang ‘yung movement namin,” Kelra bared.
Meanwhile, Team Falcons PH kept their championship hopes after dismantling Aurora Gaming with a clean 3-0 sweep to advance to the lower bracket finals.
It was a cold-blooded revenge served by Team Falcons PH to RORA, who eliminated them in the playoffs last MPL Season 14.
Kyle “KyleTzy” Sayson starred in the series-clinching Game 3, navigating an early deficit before putting on a clinic with his Lancelot pick.
Aurora initially controlled the tempo in Game 1 and appeared poised to strike first, but a daring 4-vs-5 clash at the 16-minute mark swung momentum to the Falcons.
The skirmish led to three crucial pickoffs and an uncontested Lord, paving the way for a clean turret siege to take the opener.
With this impressive turnaround, Team Falcons earned the right to face Team Liquid PH in a rematch of their epic five-game slugfest.
[ALSO READ: MPL playoffs: ONIC PH, no. 1 Team Liquid PH stay clutch, arrange upper bracket finals clash]
“Natutunan namin sa last laban namin sa TLPH kasi doon [sa laban] sobrang dami naming error. Ngayon, naless talaga yung errors namin kaya sobrang ganda talaga na ipinakita ng players,” Team Falcons PH head coach Francis "Duckey" Glindro said in the post-game press conference.
It also carries high stakes as the winner advances to the Grand Finals for a shot at the coveted MPL Philippines Season 15 title—and a chance to dethrone defending champion ONIC Philippines.
(With reports from Pao Ambat)
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[Editor's note: This article was written by a member of the One Sports Digital with the help of AI, and then checked by the staff to ensure accuracy.]