Aura PH made quick work of Nexplay Esports, 2-0, to take the number one spot in Group A in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines Season Seven regular season, Sunday afternoon.
The victory put Aura PH at 19 points through a 7-2 card — eclipsing Work Auster Force (5-4), who slid to second place with 16 points.
With Aura PH taking the Luminous Lord near the 21-minute mark of Game One, Nexplay Esports ran the same hail mary play with John Paul “H2wo” Salonga (Ling) and Renejay “RENEJAY” Barcarse (Benedetta) that won them the series against Omega Esports last night.
Only this time, a massive defender in Christian “Rafflesia” Fajura was there to fend them off and prevent the push.
Rafflesia, who finished with 11 assists and two deaths, won the SMART MVP plum in the 21-11 Game One win.
Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales’ Kagura then closed out the series, leading Aura PH to a 25-14 Game Two victory.
Allen “Greed_” Baloy’s classic Natalia spearheaded Aura PH’s pick-off composition while Jaypee “Jaypee” Dela Cruz’s Mathilda played the perfect second fiddle to set up the kills.
Nexplay Esports was able to survive a late siege from Aura PH to prolong the game, but a crucial outplay from Bennyqt on H2wo (Harley) and RENEJAY (Claude) put the nail on the coffin.
Bennyqt put up nine kills and nine assists against two deaths en route to the SMART MVP award.
Nexplay Esports, who dropped to a 4-6 standing, remained at the third spot with 13 points. The Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio-coached squad’s max possible points have been trimmed to just 20 points.
Aura PH will next face the Cignal Ultra on Saturday at 4:30 pm while Nexplay Esports looks to salvage their campaign against Execration on Friday at 7:30 pm.
