AURORA's early exit in the M6 World Championship caused a stir in the Mobile Legends esports scene, as this could signal a new dawn, where Filipino teams are no longer the final boss when it comes to the world stage.
And with their exile, only one PH team will proceed to the playoff stage, Fnatic Onic Philippines. This marks the 2nd time that only one PH team will proceed, with the 1st happening back in M1.
And after Aurora's trailblazing expedition in the galaxy of stars reaches its end, comes the constant bashing and criticism directed to the team, most notably to the likes of Aniel "Master the Basics" Jiandani and Renejay "Renejay" Barcarse.
Renejay even admitted to SPIN.ph how the loss affected the team, saying: “Kung masakit sa inyo, mas masakit sa amin kasi sobra hard work namin. Talagang ginawa namin lahat, pero yun talaga para sa amin."
But not everyone would constantly throw harsh comments towards the Northern Lights, as MPL shoutcaster and MLBB coach, Neil "Midnight" De Guzman, showed a level of sympathy towards the team.
Midnight hits back at bashers
This doesn't necessarily mean that Aurora should be spared from the criticism as there are levels of improvement for the team.
"Oo may critique at analysis tayo sa pagkatalo nila pero 'di nila deserve ng hate nyo o tawagin sila ng kung ano-ano."
In the end, he gave an important reflection to the community.
"Wala kayong idea sa hirap na dinaanan nila at sa pressure na nararamdaman nila. Yung oras na malayo sila sa mga mahal nila sa buhay. Manalo o matalo suporta tayo sa kanila. Ganyan i-celebrate ang representative ng bansa. Iisa tayo, manalo man o matalo."
ANALYSIS: Bakit natalo ang Aurora?
In an exclusive with SPIN.ph, Midnight shared his thoughts as to what went wrong for Aurora during their battle against Team Liquid ID (TLID).
In the first game, TLID crafted a draft that defied Aurora's Bruno pick, but Aurora managed to keep things at bay.
"Well yung first game malinis talaga yung draft ng TLID. Prepared sila vs. the Bruno kasi range battle ginawa nila, pero nagawan ng Aurora ng paraan."
That is until the errors took place, which weakened Aurora's momentum.
"Kaso nagka-errors sila sa calls especially around major objectives and yung zoning vs. committing, which is normal sa high pressure situation even amongst top teams."
The same story happened in Game 2, where Liquid seem to have an edge in terms of drafting, but Aurora was able to find the answers.
"Same thing happened nung game 2 na medyo naisahan ng TLID yung RORA sa draft sa Belerick pick. Nakakuha naman sila ng momentum," started Midnight.
But in the end, the Cavalry's charges were on point, where Liquid's Christian "Widy" Wardhana Hartono stood tall.
"Pero yung micro ng TLID yung naging clutch sa game 2 and may isang moment dun yung sobrang game changer, and this is not the one where Domeng missed his ult. Masaraap panoorin si Widy sa totoo lang and sa kanya galing yung crucial moment." Midnight reflected.
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