Defending champion Falcons AP.Bren emerged victorious in a tough encounter against RSG Philippines, winning 3-1 and setting up a rematch against Team Liquid ECHO in the Grand Finals of the MPL Philippines Season 13 Playoffs at the SM Southmall on Saturday.
This will mark FCAP’s second straight Grand Finals appearance and fourth straight international appearance after representing the Philippines in the Southeast Asian Games, the IESF World Championship, and the M5 World Championship.
FCAP though had to dig deep to advance to the final stage this season.
In fact, head coach Francis “Duckey” Glindro praised RSG, who played them in a series that could have gone either way, with all games boiling down to crucial late-game team fights.
“I think they’re a very strong opponent. One of the hardest opponents we’ve played so far actually, probably on par with ECHO. We’re looking forward to playing with them again, probably in training sessions and scrimmages. But right now, I think they’re one of the best teams out there,” Duckey said of RSG.
After splitting the first two games, RSG looked primed to reach match point as Nathanael “Nathzz” Estrologo (Arlott) led the early game exploits in Game 3 with a 3-1-4 KDA, establishing an 8k gold lead by the 10th minute.
However, David “FlapTzy” Canon (Cici) and Rowgien “Owgwen” Unigo (Mathilda) executed a decisive initiation during the 21st-minute lord dance that resulted in a game-winning 3-0 pickoff.
In Game 4, it was Marco “Super Marco” Requitiano’s Roger who provided the decisive plays, starting off with a double kill early in the 14th minute that turned the net worth lead in favor of the defending champions.
He followed this up with a triple kill in the 19th minute to almost single-handedly secure a 3-0 wipe that enabled FCAP to force a successful base turret siege in the ensuing sequence and clinch the series win.
