Amateur standout Game Lab and Onic Arsenals opened the Mobile Legends Bang Bang Development League (MDL) Philippines Season 1 with similar 2-0 sweeps before Bren Euphoria Esports and Smart Omega Neos closed out the day with similar 2-0 victories.
In the opener, RSG Ignite shut down Game Lab’s surprising Alice jungler pick from the get-go, leading by as much as 20-5 on the kill tally thanks to Patrick “rTzy” Grecia’s exceptional performance on the Kadita who zoomed to a 6-1-10 KDA at that point.
But Masayuki “YukTzy” Fujita (Moskov) banked on his late-game prowess to spearhead a 20th-minute counter where Game Lab scored a 3-1 tradeoff that led to a one-way push in the midlane to score a comeback win, 1-0.
They did not let up in Game 2 as Game Lab turned a slim 4-2 kill spread in the 4th minute into a massive 9-2 lead late in the 7th-minute courtesy of Aizawa’s 4-0-3 KDA. The reigning Top Clans Winter Invitational champions did not look back from there, en route to the sweep.
Former MPL PH player Ralph “Dudut” Adrales’s appearance in the MDL was much anticipated but teammate Jerry “Chovyy” Nicol snatched the spotlight for Onic Arsenals on opening day as his Pharsa easily put together a 6-0-2 by the 7th minute to take control of the opening match and easily converted the lead into a win by the 14th minute after Bert “Bert” Segovia’s (Brody) double kill touched off a 5-1 wipeout.
Game 2 was totally different though as the Tiger Cubs kept the game close until the Arsenals caught Ken “Kzen” Pile (Fredrin) out of position in the 13th minute to nab a 2-0 pick-off and secure the luminous lord and wrestle control.
NXPE looked to have regained their footing after securing the 17th-minute lord but Onic responded with a 2-0 punishment in the ensuing sequence then successfully pulled off a base turret invade moments later to complete the sweep.
Seemingly duplicating their MPL counterparts’ success in the Sibol qualifiers, Bren Euphoria Esports manhandled ZOL Esports to score the third sweep of the day.
In Game 1, Joshua “RYUJIN” Ramos (Pharsa) and Vincent “Venogo” Orogo (Leomord) led the way after going on rampage, finishing with immaculate KDAs of 5-0-7 and 5-0-5, respectively.
Bren played an almost perfect Game 2 with all members finishing the 15-minute conquest with zero death except for RYUJIN (Faramis) who had two to conclude a rousing start to their season.
Smart Omega Neos completed a shutout opening day after blanking TNC Neo, 2-0.
Kiel VJ “KielVJ” Hernandez introduced himself in the MDL with a mysterious Lapu-Lapu midlane pick that did not disappoint as he finished with 100% kill participation for a 4-1-11 KDA.
It was Christian “West” Mangabay’s (Moskov) time to shine in Game 2 as he stepped on the gas from the early game and helping the Neos secure the lord in the 13th minute after taking down Keer VInce Jashley “K1d” Recto (Paquito) that led to a 2-0.
He once again scored another kill in the ensuing base turret invade to keep Omega undefeated, 2-0.
