TWO TEAMS are currently on a roll as the MPL franchises battle for supremacy. Bren Esports clocked in impressive results over 2nd seed Onic PH, while RSG PH fought back ECHO, who had recently experienced an upsurge after Christian “Rafflesia” Fajura’s return.
In their previous matchup, Rafflesia was forced to sit back, while Jason “Jaymeister” Rafael Torculas took over. Now ECHO PH aimed to extract revenge with their star player’s return.
ECHO came in guns blazing in Game 1 of the series. Rafflesia’s rotations on the toplane combined with the early aggression from Jaymark “Hadess” Aaron Lazaro’s forced Joshwell Christian “Iy4knu” Manaog to switch to the botlane.
RSG managed to bounce back, courtesy of the damage outburst from Jonard “Demonkite” Cedrix Caranto as his X.Borg suffocated the members of ECHO PH.
However, a 15th minute clash, where ECHO secured the Lord and executed strategic plays to weaken RSG, allowed the team to regain their momentum, giving them the first win of the series.
Rafflesia’s presence wasn’t just felt in Game 1 as he spearheaded ECHO’s early game lead in Game 2. His calculated use of Holy Baptism allowed ECHO to eliminate key targets.
But as the game progressed, RSG slowly gained momentum, where Demonkite’s X.Borg melted ECHO’s backlines. His efforts, combined with Earvin John “Heath” Esperanza’s Jawhead charged towards Rion “Rk3” Kudo’s Pharsa and Rafflesia’s Rafaela, provided RSG an important Game 2 victory.
Seeing the need to refine their strategies, ECHO opted to select Rafflesia’s signature Diggie pick. Similar to Game 1, his presence, combined with the team’s surprise Karrie, slowed Iy4knu’s progress on the toplane.
But RSG was able to calm the storm in the 7th minute, as they secured the Lord and made crucial kills on ECHO’s key members.
Eventually, RSG was able to command the entire game due to the damage outburst from Arvie “Aqua” Antonio’s Yve, Demonkite’s X.Borg, and Iy4knu’s Bruno, ultimately sealing the deal for RSG.
Bren returns to dominance with a 2-0 sweep of Onic PH
After a disastrous first four weeks, Bren have managed to silence their critics with an important 2-0 win over Onic PH. Bren surprised their foes with a hyper-aggressive gameplan in both games.
In the post-match interview, Allan “Lusty” Castromayor Jr. talked briefly about the drama that took place inside the bootcamp.
“Noong puro talo kami sa three weeks, nawalan kami ng tiwala sa isa’t isa,” he said. “Yun yung pinakamalaking problema namin kase syempre para sa amin lahat kami may napatunayan. Yung desisyon namin sa laro para sa amin, kada player tama. Doon kami nagkasira-sira.”
He added: “Tapos noong nananalo na kami, nagusap-usap kaming lahat na itabi muna yung napatunayan namin. Tapos nagusap-usap kami sa open forum para masabi lahat ng problema sa isa’t isa.”
Bren wasn’t the only team that garnered a convincing 2-0 sweep, as Blacklist International stomped TNC in their recent encounter.
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