ECHO bounced back from their close loss to defending champion AP.Bren with a 2-0 sweep of Blacklist International to conclude Week 3 action in the MPL Philippines Season 13 on Sunday at the Shooting Gallery Studios in Makati City.
The Orcas retained their second spot with 16 points, trailing behind AP.Bren (18 points) with a narrow lead over third-place ONIC Philippines (15 points).
ECHO head coach Archie “Tictac” Reyes had nothing but praise for Jhonville “Outplayed” Villar and Justine “Zaida” Palma, who shared the game MVP honors against Blacklist.
The duo led ECHO Proud to an MDL championship last season.
“Di na sila takot. Kung ano yung nilalaro sa scrim, yung tapang nila, kahit mga world champions yung kalaban nila, yun pa din yung laro nila. Hindi na sila naiintimidate. Kumabaga, sanay na sila dun sa environment,” said Tictac.
Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya’s (Benedetta) backline attack late in the 16th minute of Game 1 buoyed ECHO to a 4-3 exchange, complemented by Outplayed’s (Roger) triple kill, leading to a successful base turret siege, resulting in a 1-0 lead.
In Game 2, Blacklist took control from the early game, but Sanford (Barats) delivered a bait play singlehandedly in the 14th minute, enabling ECHO to secure a pick off and the enhanced lord objective.
ECHO played steadily thereafter, securing the 18th-minute lord, which became the game-winning objective for the sweep.
ECHO will close out the first half of the season against MINANA Evos on April 13, followed by a rematch against ONIC, currently on a five-game winning streak.
