Aurora Gaming PH secured a top-three finish after defeating Indonesia’s Alter Ego, 3-1, in the upper bracket semifinals of the M7 World Championship Knockout Stage early Thursday at the MPL Arena XO Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The victory sets up an upper bracket finals clash against Malaysia’s Selangor Red Giants, featuring fellow Filipinos John “Innocent” Banal, Mark “Kramm” Rusiana, and coach Michael “Arcadia” Bocado. The winner will earn the first ticket to Sunday’s title match.
Aurora focused on taking it one game at a time, a strategy that helped them dominate in three of the four games against Alter Ego.
“Our focus really is taking it one game at a time. We didn’t think about getting a 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2. We just want to handle each game and adjust to whatever happens,” said Aurora head coach Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani on their mindset against Alter Ego.
“There are still a lot of surprise picks we haven’t used yet, and maybe if the timing is right, we’ll show them,” he added.
After splitting the first two games, Aurora opened a 3,000-gold lead, thanks to Dylan “Light” Catipon’s (Khaleed) Raging Sandstorm setup from the backline during the ninth-minute lord fight. This allowed Jonard “Demonkite” Caranto (Fredrinn) to secure the lord objective and score two pick-offs.
The Filipinos extended their lead to as much as 8,500 gold before closing the game in the 17th minute with a 5-for-0 wipeout led by Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo (Zhuxin) and Jan “Domengkite” del Mundo’s (Harith) crucial takedowns.
In Game 4, Alter Ego initially took control, but Demonkite (Leomord) secured the lord in the 17th minute. Yue (Pharsa) then scored two kills, sparking a 4-for-0 wipe that fueled Aurora’s massive turnaround and clinched the series victory.
