via Dason Stephan Sailadin, Pressrom PH
A bittersweet moment came for Filipinos as one representative delivered a drubbing, while the other succumbed to a heartbreaking ending.
Team Liquid Philippines (TLPH) displayed dominance by reasserting their mastery over Indonesian royalty Onic Esports with a 3-1 finish, booking their ticket for the MSC x EWC grand finals of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last Friday night, August 1.
TLPH’s “Babycakes Duo” delivered a masterclass, as Kiel “Oheb” Soriano led with strong gold lane performances in Games 1 and 2, before Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno capped off the series in Game 4 with a flawless Fredrinn game.
The first game showed a slow start to the series but swung heavily in TLPH’s favor after Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya landed a well-timed “Final Slash” (Arlott ultimate) near the river, setting up a triple kill for Oheb and opening the floodgates for a Lord take and base push to take a 1-0 edge.
Team Liquid saw a grueling back-and-forth affair in Game 2 after finding key pick-offs due to Oheb’s Granger and nearly losing it all after Onic denied their backdoor attempt at the bottom side of the map.
After that failed opportunity, the Cavalry went in for another desperate final push; at first, it seemed like the win would slip away again after their team suffered a wipeout inside the base, but they managed to finish the job due to their Lord and minions pushing the crystal.
Despite an early struggle in the third game, the Indonesian squad rallied a fightback, capitalizing on an overextension at the 15-minute mark from TLPH before Gilang “SANZ” and Moch “Lutpiii” Ardianto tallied a series of double kills to help Onic go one-way into their opponent’s base.
That proved to be Onic’s last stroke of luck, as the Cavalry regained command in Game 4 with KarlTzy’s Fredrinn dominating the early jungle, securing the first turtle and the opposite purple buff to snowball the game.
However, things didn’t go too well for the other Filipino representative.
Earlier that same evening, Onic Philippines saw their finals hopes dashed after bowing to defending MSC champions Selangor Red Giants - OG in a full five-game series, 2-3.
The reigning M6 world champions, Onic PH, bounced back in Game 2 after losing Game 1, as King “K1NGKONG” Perez and Duane “Kelra” Pillas took control with backline dives to dominate on kills with Lancelot and Granger near the end and secure a 12-minute win.
Malaysia’s SRG.OG responded in Game 3 with John “Innocent” Banal’s Bruno continuously taking towers down and getting crucial kills on three members of Onic at the final moments to take a quick victory, but the series went to a deadlock once again as Onic fought back behind a stellar Valentina showing from Frince “Super Frince” Ramirez in Game 4 to force Game 5.
In the decisive match, SRG dominated from the start as Muhammad Haqqullah “Sekys” Ahmad Shahrul Zaman secured all early turtle objectives, building a huge gold lead that led to Onic’s defeat.
With the matchups now set, TLPH will face the defending champions SRG.OG in what promises to be an epic clash for the MSC x EWC grand finals crown on Saturday, August 2.
