Echo kept their championship aspirations alive by defeating Bren Esports, 3-1, in the lower bracket semifinals of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 11 playoffs at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Saturday.
They are now waiting for the loser between Blacklist International and RSG Slate Philippines to dispute the final ticket to the grand finals and the MLBB Southeast Asian Cup 2023.
One of the keys in today’s victory was Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera who delivered an almost perfect opening game that set the tone for the series.
“Sobrang ganda nung pinakita niya ngayon. Tapos yung aggressiveness niya lumabas ngayon,” said head coach Archie “TicTac” Reyes on Yawi’s performance today.
Yawi admitted he wasn’t performing 100-percent and made sure to be in the right mindset heading into their do-or-die match against Bren.
“Mas nagfocus po talaga ngayon tsaka natulog po kong nang maaga. Tas maayos na gising ko and all. Tas yung mindset ko po talaga bago yung laro sobrang iba po compared kahapon kasi do-or-die na po so ayoko pong magsisi sa huli na di ko po binigay yung best ko,” Yawi said.
Echo opened the series with a win thanks to Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera’s (Franco) accurate Iron Hooks, which led to pick-offs and a comfortable victory. He finished with a stellar 0-1-11 KDA and helped Echo take the win with a massive 15-4 kill tally.
The Orcas continued to pressure Bren in Game 2, shutting down Marco “Super Marco” Requitano (Beatrix) with two quick deaths in the early game to post a 7-2 kill lead. However, Bren’s goldlaner scored a double kill in the 15th minute, sparking Bren’s comeback fight to equalize by the 25th minute.
Despite Bren securing their Fanny pick for Game 3, Echo dominated the match, conceding their first death only during the 11th minute base turret siege. Sanji led the way with a 9-1-4 KDA to spearhead Echo’s 15-2 annihilation on the kill score.
The reigning world champions did not let up, with Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno (Martis) leading the way by scoring a triple kill at the 9th minute to post an immaculate 7-0-2 at that point and secure the lord. Echo did not look back from there to close out the series.
