TNC Pro Team survived Twisted Minds with a hard-fought 3-2 victory, and in doing so it set up a showdown with the top-seeded Aurora Gaming in the MPL Philippines Season 16 upper bracket on Thursday.
Dropping its final game of the regular season against the same team, the fifth-seeded Phoenix came out with vengeance on their minds, and it couldn’t come any sweeter than by eliminating the young guns from the race to the Immortal Cup.
But things didn’t come easy for TNC, needing all five games to finally turn back the young and gritty Twisted Minds squad.
In Game 1, TNC Pro Team showcased tactical discipline and precision in dominating Twisted Minds, not conceding any deaths until the 5-minute mark to pull off a lopsided 12-2 kill score.
Veteran roamer Joshua “Ch4knu” Mangilog, playing as Gatotkaca, was a steady presence in the frontlines and delivered a commendable 4-1-5 KDA.
Twisted Minds refused to back down in Game 2, tying the series at 1-1 taking advantage of one crucial error from TNC during the 20-minute top lane team fight.
Mico “Nosia” Guevarra, playing as Hairth, scored a double-kill after John Carlo “Caloy” Roma took advantage of an overextending Phoenix side, taunting two which resulted in the game-winning a four-man takedown of TNC.
Michael “MP the King” Endino on Lancelot pierced through the backlines and made his presence felt with an impressive 5-1-7 KDA.
TNC struck back in Game 3, powered by the dominant 10-0-3 KDA performance from Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales, playing as Obsidia.
However, Twisted Minds forced a fifth decider game after taking the victory in the grueling Game 4 despite TNC’s valiant defense.
MP the King, this time on Hayabusa, stole the spotlight once again with a 14-4-8 KDA.
That proved to be the last stand of these young Twisted Minds as TNC Pro Team went unstoppable in the decider to seal the deal once and for all, taking the momentum from early game to late game.
Twisted Minds came up with a draft that was supposed to counter Justine "Zaida" Palma’s Fanny, but TNC proved its determination to stay in contention despite the challenges.
Zaida on Fanny earned the MVP title after delivering a flawless 8-0-0 KDA.
TNC Pro Team makes it into the top 4 and will face the top-seeded Aurora Gaming, the biggest challenge in rewriting its playoffs history in MPL Philippines.
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