THE past couple of days have seen ECHO PH and Bren Esports exchange friendly banter with one another.
And it all came down to this: an epic clash between the so-called “super team” of the MPL against the fallen titan, both aiming to achieve a sense of pride after the heated verbal exchanges.
Though Bren tried valiantly to prove their point with their revamped rookie-led roster, ECHO PH’s firepower was too much as they easily swept their rivals.
Baptism for Bren’s rookies as ECHO PH takes them to church
The Sibol qualifiers revealed that Vincent “Joy Boy” De Guzman’s Ruby is a massive threat given his mastery of the hero. But ECHO PH managed to find a loophole with his engagements.
Using their pocket pick Vale, ECHO PH managed to slow him down. In Game 1, he was struggling to find the space to engage with the Vale and Chou combo, and even if he managed to pull a miracle swoop, allowing his teammates to charge forward, Jankurt “KurtTzy” Russel Matira easily weakened their grasp due to the crowd control abilities of his Vale.
Then in Game 2, Marco Stephen “SUPER MARCO” Requitano was given the chance to play the overpowered Wanwan. However, he was completely hampered at the early stages of the game. Even with his Inspire spell, he was unable to make a massive impact in this match, while his rival Frederic Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales outpaced him in terms of momentum.
A super team living up to their expectations
But besides giving the rookies a taste of their own medicine, ECHO PH’s execution was extremely flawless. This was evident in the final clash in Game 1, where Bren managed to kill KurtTzy’s Vale, but they managed to win the teamfight.
A key factor? The zonal presence brought by Frediemar “3MarTzy” Serafico, Bennyqt, and Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera limited Bren’s engagements.
And this was further highlighted in Game 2 in the 9th minute surprise setup from ECHO PH. Amid a strong initiation from David Charles “Flap” Canon, leading to Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno’s extremely low HP, both Yawi and 3MarTzy provided the counterplay, allowing Karl to escape and unleash his Yi Sun Shin ult.
Ultimately, their execution allowed them to take the young and up-and-coming squad to school.
No ego problems inside ECHO's bootcamp
Many questions were raised about ECHO PH’s status as a “super team” in which the team might suffer from ego-related problems.
But the post-match interview revealed that these issues are nonexistent.
“Ang ganda ng mga results namin sa scrim, tsaka maganda yung pakikisama namin and wala kaming masyadong problema,” said ECHO's roam player, Yawi.
In fact the team would accept their flaws and learn from it.
“Nagusap-usap lang po kami, kapag may mali umaamin kami," said Yawi.
Given the outcome of their first match and their down-to-earth personality, ECHO PH are looking like a well-oiled team, driven to answer their critics and win a championship.