ANOTHER ROUND of Philippines vs. Indonesia, another Filipino team win.
Just like Blacklist in the previous day, ECHO PH faced off not just against a powerhouse Indonesian team, but also a hostile Indonesian MLBB crowd.
But despite the numbers disadvantage in terms of the crowd support, ECHO PH followed Blacklist's footsteps, silencing Onic Esports (and the crowd) with their 3-1 series win.
The Orcas now proceed loud and proud to the upper bracket finals, where they'll be facing Blacklist International, in a rematch of the Season 10 finals. Meanwhile, Pinoy imports Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol and Coach Paul Denver "Yeb" Miranda will face The Valley in the lower bracket.
ECHO PH goes loud
Onic Esports rustled up an early scare as their damage outburst from Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol's Granger was able to secure early kills.
However, as the game progressed, the Orcas got their countermeasures ready. Nicky "Kiboy" Fernando would try to set up plays, but Tristan "Yawi" Cabrera had him checked.
But if there's one player that stood out, it was none other than Sanford "SanFord" Vinuya, whose Joy became a constant pest against Onic's backline centric lineup.
He would set his sights on Kairi and Calvin "CW" Winata, allowing Alston "Sanji" Pabico and and Frederic Benedict "Bennyqt" Gonzales to provide the follow-up damage.
It was rinse and repeat for the trio for ECHO to secure their Game 1 win.
Game 2, however, saw Onic exact their revenge all thanks to Kairi's explosive and surprising playstyle. His Hayabusa danced his way past ECHO PH, which led to Indonesia grabbing the victory.
To mitigate his impact, the Orcas banned three of his signature heroes — Ling, Hayabusa, and Fanny — in Game 3.
Without his assassins, ECHO capitalized on Onic's lack of damage, while their Dyrroth pick would melt the tanky composition from Onic.
With ECHO's extremely tanky lineup, a strong AOE presence, and Yawi's signature Chou setups, ECHO's house of highlights emerged, with tower dive after tower dive en route to a Game 3 win.
Now in a do-or-die Game 4 for the Indonesian squad, Onic needed a response. With ECHO trying their best to force Kairi with utility jungler picks, the Hedgehogs found an alternative thanks to the Joy pick.
Game 4 was distilled into a Yawi vs. Kairi matchup, with Yawi's explosive setups and Kairi's outplays dominating the early stages.
However, as the match went on, the two gold laners in CW and Bennyqt would finally make their way into the teamfights.
Bennyqt's damage outburst and Joy-countering Beatrix were able to slay Kairi in some teamfights, but Onic Esports held on to a fighting chance with their Faramis and Claude picks.
But Onic's valiant stance didn't last long as the 11th minute defense from SanFord proved the Orcas weren't treading water. Then, Bennyqt's damage outburst with his Beatrix slowly chipped away key members.
And ultimately, it was Bennyqt who finished Onic Esports and sent them to the lower bracket.
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