AFTER suffering from two straight defeats against Blacklist International and RSG PH, Onic PH were determined to finally return to their winning ways. In their way lay Bren Esports, another team suffering from a losing skid.
But in the end, it was Onic PH who were able to redeem themselves by brushing aside the M2 World Champions, consigning Bren to the bottom of the rankings, with only 5 points to their name.
Game 1 was a classic Onic victory as Bren struggled to find any room to engage. Onic unveiled their signature Popol and Kupa, which allowed them to scout around the map and set traps. His presence, combined with the zonal damage output from Allen Jedric “Baloyskie” Baloy’s Natan and Mark Christian “Markyyyyy” Ectobanez’s Pharsa, limited Bren’s impact.
This likewise allowed them to punish Bren’s turrets, starving them of map control and resources.
Desperate to keep their playoff dreams alive, Bren opted to secure a damage-centric lineup in Game 2. Initially, Bren struggled to deal with the crowd control prowess from Karl Mico “Micophobia” Tarala’s Chou and Markyyyyy’s Kaja, but they were able to bounce back courtesy of the heroics from Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno and David Charles “FlapTzy” Canon.
Bren nearly won Game 2 after defending their base and eliminating the “skie” brothers in the 18th minute, but Onic’s damage outburst from Kaja and Lancelot kept their hopes alive.
Leading to the final battle in the 22nd minute, where FlapTzy tried his best to salvage the Lord, but was denied by Onic’s efforts. As he retreated back to base, Onic capitalized on his absence by eliminating key targets, leading to their victory.
One of the key reasons for Onic’s late game heroics in Game 2 was Gerald “Dlarskie” Trinchera’s Yu Zhong plus Petrify combo. During the post game interview, Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol explained how they would pull off this tactic,
“Yung Petrify, bagay sa 3rd Skill ni Yu Zhong, kase pag-third skill niya tapos Petrify, iaangat niya yung kalaban,” he said.
Blacklist International is still undefeated, survives a potential scare from ECHO PH
In their previous encounter, these two teams went the distance, with Blacklist gaining the series win, however their Game 2 loss revealed that ECHO PH could potentially topple their reign as they made quick work of the defending MPL champions.
Blacklist was able to sweep their foes in their latest matchup. However, their rivals revealed that the codebreakers signature UBE strategy has its own flaws.
Both games saw Blacklist suffer from casualties caused by AOE damages and surprised entrances.
RSG PH keeps TNC on a losing path
TNC’s recent losses revealed that the team is struggling to regain momentum, once they lose their turrets and objectives. It was the same outcome that awaited in their match against the Kingslayers.
In Game 1, RSG secured most of the turtle kills, giving them the momentum to snowball in the latter stages of the match. The second match saw them with their signature Rafaela and Paquito combination, wrecking havoc around the Land of Dawn.
TNC is currently out of the playoff spots, ranked 7th in the league with only six points.