THE long grind towards the completion of the Golden Road continues for Team Liquid, and again it came with a stiff challenge – this time from a team out west with plenty to prove.
The MPL PH Season 15 and 16 champions responded like they only know how - with grit and fire.
The Cavalry came alive just in the right time to fend off an upset seeking Aurora Gaming Turkiye, 3-1, in the M7 World Championship lower bracket quarterfinals, Friday at the Tennis Indoor Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
READ: In-form Aurora Gaming PH books first M7 Grand Finals spot
When the going got tough for Team Liquid, the GOAT got going as Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno took charge to steady the ship for the Cavalry after a shaky start to the series.
Aurora Turkiye's ultra-aggresive start in Game 1 threw off Team Liquid, shocking the Filipino champs with a quick 11-minute win with their decision to pick Leomord for Sidar "Tienzy" Menteze, Pharsa for Amet "Rosa" Batir and Calea for Lucasz "Pagu" Bigus paying off bigtime as they snowballed early and rolled into the win.
Team Liquid looked like it was going to breeze into an easy win hin the second game, but Aurora fended off the Cavalry's repeated sieges with Siya "Sigibum" Akbilut's Esmeralda being a nuisance on Team Liquid in the late game.
That's when KarlTzy put his footdown on his Yi Sun Shin, and powered the game-ending fight in the top-lane by catching Sigibum before picking off the rest of Aurora one by one for a savage in the 22nd minute which eventually resulted into the base take.
KarlTzy, with a 12-3-2 KDA (kill-death-assist) count, took MVP honors of that game.
Team Liquid carried over that momentous win in the next game, finishing off Aurora TR in just 13 minutes to take match-point, with Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya securing MVP on his Arlott with a 5-2-5 count.
But Aurora had one last fight in them in the fourth game, bringing out their signature Harley on Tienzy while giving Pagu Kaja for quicker pickoffs.
READ: Immortality at Golden Road's end: Can Team Liquid pull it off?
That seemed to work as Aurora took control of the map and took down two inhibitor base turrets for Team Liquid while posting a 6K gold lead on the Filipinos. Well, that was until KarlTzy made things happen for the Cavalry once more.
KarlTzy stole the lord in the 16 minute mark while also taking down Lunar's Sora with him, before Jaypee's Khaleed secured two crucial kills on Pagu and Rosa's Yve.
Team Liquid then marched down the top side alongside the Lord, with KarlTzy getting two more kills as Kiel "Oheb" Soriano pushed back the Aurora defense with Claude's Blazing Duet for the match ending base take.
Oheb was named the MVP of the match simply with his damage output on the Claude late in the game, with a KDA of 2-2-8.
The grind towards M7 glory continues for Team Liquid, with the distinction of being the only team in competitive MLBB history to complete the Golden Road - a feat where a team wins all the domestic titles, the mid-season cup and the world championship in a span of 12 months.
To get there, Team Liquid must hurdle the winner between Malaysia's Alter Ego and Serbian side Team Spirit in the lower bracket semifinals.
Awaiting in the lower bracket finals are the reigning MPL Malaysia champions Selangor Red Giants while fellow Pinoy representatives Aurora Gaming PH are already sitting pretty in the finals after a flawless run in the knockout stage.
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