“FACTS PO: Sa mga hindi po nakaalam or bago lang sa MLBB at hindi nakapanood ng Season 5 pababa. Mayroon na pong 3x MPL TROPHY ang ECHO,” wrote a certain Dave Soriano in the Facebook group MLBB PH News Events and Tournaments.
He further argued ECHO was originally called Sunsparks, which won back-to-back championships in MPL Philippines Season 4 and Season 5.
“That reason kaya po nawala ang Sunspark, ito po ay team noong qualifiers at pinalitan ng AURA PH, which is now ECHO noong ito ay naging franchise team,” he added. Soriano further argued that ECHO changed its name from Sunsparks to Aura, and then to ECHO.
“Nagkaroon talaga ng change name gaya ng WORK AUSTER FORCE, sila ngayon ay TNC na kasi binili sila ng SLOT ng TNC. Ssame player but new name under new brand. Binili po ang slot (Sunspark) ng AURA INDONESIA at yung player ng Sunspark ay naging AURA PH at ngaun ay ECHO. SUNSPARK > AURA PH > ECHO PH kung sasamahin sila ay may 3X MPL TROPHY.”
To bolster his argument, Soriano cited a Wikipedia source that showed ECHO’s lineage from Sunsparks.
But does ECHO really have three MPL championships under its belt?
To rephrase the question, are ECHO and Sunsparks the same organization?
Put shortly:
The Claim: ECHO has three MPL championships under its belt.
The Issue: Whether ECHO and Sunsparks are the same organization.
The Verdict: No, ECHO does not have three MPL championships because it is a different organization from Sunsparks.
SPIN.ph reached out to Joy Roland Calulo, MPL Philippines’ head of league operations.
“Under our rules, we consider Sunsparks and ECHO as different teams even if they had the same roster lineage," said Calulo. “ECHO and Sunsparks are different like how Execration and Smart Omega are different.”
But AURA PH and ECHO are considered the same team.
“We consider AURA PH and ECHO as one team because it just rebranded but still had the same organization behind it,” Calulo told SPIN.ph.
“The wiki is also inconsistent since it acknowledges their roots from No Limit, the team Mitch founded, but didn't include it in the boxed items,” added Calulo. Of course, No Limit is also not connected to ECHO and is a completely different organization.
So, there you have it. Sunsparks was dissolved incidentally as AURA hired the same roster to form a new team. So, no, ECHO does not have three MPL championships under its belt.
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