ECHO pulled out a familiar trick in its bag of tricks on Friday, split-pushing its way to a 3-1 victory over RSG PH in the MPL Philippines Season 10 upper bracket semifinals at the Blue Leaf Cosmopolitan in Quezon City.
Coming off a loss in Game Three, ECHO had a hard time closing off the defending champions in Game Four with the latter even initiating a crucial Lord take entering the 20th minute.
Anticipating a collapse if they took on RSG PH head-on in the Lord pit, Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales (Beatrix) and Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya (Uranus) decided to push RSG PH’s top lane while the rest of the team contested the major objective.
The reigning MSC champion anticipated ECHO’s plan with Eman “EMANN” Sangco (Bruno) immediately retreating to defend. Unfortunately, he was taken down by Bennyqt and Sanford which ultimately ended the match.
It can be remembered that ECHO pulled off a similar play in their 2-0 victory over Bren Esports in the second round of the regular season.
“Nakita ko po kasi yung mapa na wala po yung mga makukunat na possible mag-def,” said Bennyqt during the post-match press conference.
“Ang nakita ko po na possible mag-def yung Pharsa saka Bruno. E sobrang farmed ko na po nun na kahit mag-def yung dalawang hero kaya naman pong patayin,” he added.
Bennyqt was thrilled to get back at RSG PH after losing their last three games against the team dating back to the regular season of Season Nine. But what makes the win even sweeter was that ECHO finally notched its first playoff win in franchise history.
“Masaya po. Yun lang po yung ano e, nafe-feel ko,” said Bennyqt.
“Masaya kasi ‘di kami nanalo sa kanila nung regular season. Kumbaga wala kaming bawi so ayun, masaya.”
The former Execration standout played a pivotal role in the win over the defending champs, scoring five kills and six assists against two deaths on Melissa before posting a clean 10-0-3 KDA line on Bruno in Game Two. He then finished the series with a team-high three kills to go along with an assist.
With the win, ECHO is now assured of at least a bronze finish in Season 10.
Bennyqt and ECHO will go up against the winner of the Blacklist International-Bren Esports match in the upper bracket finals tomorrow, Saturday.
