NOW more than ever, Team Liquid must play like the champions that they are.
If the MPL PH S15 and S16 champs want to arrange an All-Filipino finals duel with Aurora Gaming PH in the M7 World Championship, then it has to hurdle not one, but two elite teams in the penultimate game day of the annual Mobile Legends: Bang Bang festivities.
24 hours after surviving Aurora Gaming Turkiye, the Cavalry's road will only get tougher as its final grind in the lower bracket starts with a 4PM clash on Saturday against Indonesia's Alter Ego Esports in another best-of-five match at the Tennis Indoor Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
READ: Team Liquid continues grind to M7 glory by advancing to LB semis
If Team Liquid sends another Indonesian team packing by hurdling Alter Ego, it sets a rematch with Malaysian champions Selangor Red Giants in another best-of-five affair in the lower bracket finals scheduled at 8 PM.
Lose against the home team, though, and that's the end of the 'Golden Road' for Team Liquid.
A clash with SRG in the lower bracket finals, however, would be a chance for Team Liquid to get a semblance of revenge after the Giants dealt the Cavalry its first loss in the M7, beating the Pinoys 2-1 in the third-round of the Swiss Stage.
Only if Team Liquid hurdles both matches will it then set an All-Filipino finals duel with Aurora Gaming PH in a seven-game affair, and a chance at immortality by completing the Golden Road.
It will also be the first All-Filipino finals since M4, when Echo - composed of Team Liquid's KarlTzy, Sanford, Sanji and Jaypee - stunned Blacklist International. Oheb was on the other side back then as Blacklist's star gold laner.
READ: In-form Aurora Gaming PH books first M7 Grand Finals spot
In M4, KarlTzy and company also came back from the lower bracket that year, but never from this far out when they got relegated to the lower bracket from the get-go.
This year, they've already survived two win-or-go-home affairs already by sending ONIC ID and Aurora TR packing. The grind means having to survive two more to book a finals spot.
Should it become an All-Filipino finals in M7, it will also assure that the Philippines continues its dominance in the MLBB world stage by assuring the country its sixth consecutive M-Series title regardless of who wins.
But again for that to happen, it all starts with Team Liquid's crucial win-or-go-home match against Alter Ego in LB semifinals.
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