Aurora Gaming extended their winning streak to 12 matches while ONIC Philippines kept within reach of the upper bracket in MPL Philippines Season 16.
Aurora Gaming kept themselves on the winning track at the tail-end of in MPL Philippines Season 16's regular play, after a 2-1 victory over AP.Bren at the Green Sun Hotel in Makati.
Aurora extended their win run to 12 while also eliminating AP.Bren from contention. They are now 12-1 with one game remaining in their regular season schedule.
The Northern Lights needed to buck a slow start where they lost the first game, where the Hive pulled off a 4-for-0 wipe to set the tone for what was about to be a dominant opener against the league leaders.
At the 12th minute, John “Lord JM” Marl (Alice) and Arvie “Aqua” Antonio (Pharsa) connived for a wipeout that helped them seal the game and a 1-0 start.
But RORA was able to rebound in Game 2 thanks to Dylan “Light” Catipon’s Grock to drag the series into a decider.
Then in Game 3, it was all RORA thanks to Jonard “Demonkite” Caranto’s Akai and Light’s Franco helped lock down AP.Bren to open the field for Edward “Edward” Dapdap’s Lapu-Lapu to deal out the damage.
RORA returns to action on Saturday, October 11, as they face Smart Omega.
Grant “Kelra” Pillas and ONIC Philippines remain in the hunt for an upper bracket spot in the MPL Philippines Season 16 playoffs. | Photo: MPL Philippines
ONIC still in the running
In the other game, ONIC Philippines kept themselves within striking distance of an upper bracket slot in the Season 16 playoffs after they claimed a sweep over Omega, 2-0.
The win, which helped them improve to 8-5, has them at pace with Team Liquid Philippines (8-4) for the No. 2 position in the last two game days of the regular season.
ONIC capitalized on some miscues from Omega with Grant “Kelra” Pillas’ Obsidia taking advantage.
A 3-for-2 trade a little past the 13th minute mark was pivotal for ONIC as they overpowered Omega to take the opening game.
Then in Game 2, Borris “Brusko” Parro kept ONIC on their toes as he perfectly timed the team’s aggressions to help the Sonics build a gold lead of 5K by the 12th minute, even if they were trailing in kills.
At the 22nd minute mark, ONIC’s control reached a crescendo in a pivotal Lord dance with Kelra’s Wanwan eliminating two Omega heroes.
The 2-0 sweep hopes to push ONIC further when they try to chase the upper bracket, facing TNC Pro Team on Sunday, October 12, in their last regular season match.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.