ONIC PH dealt ECHO its first loss through a huge Game Three comeback, 2-1, in the MPL Philippines Season Nine on Friday night.
After a long tug of war, ECHO secured the first Lord of Game Three but ONIC PH managed to take all but one of ECHO’s members to cancel out a siege.
ONIC PH then initiated a team fight before the 15th minute, but ECHO, who locked in on Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol’s Helcurt, took a three-to-one exchange and bagged the second Lord entering the 16-minute mark.
In the final siege, Kairi made the biggest play — spearheading the counter engage that brought down ECHO.
Kairi finished with seven kills and eight assists against four deaths in the 22-19 Game Three win in 17 minutes and 52 seconds.
Allen “Baloyskie” Baloy made the early difference in Game One, delaying Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno’s Lancelot by using his Iron Hooks to delay his farm.
Banking on its early advantage, ONIC PH managed to build an 8K gold advantage after its first Lord take. However, during the siege, ECHO completed a five-man wipe to buy some time.
ONIC PH went for another siege a few minutes later to take out all of ECHO’s turrets.
A seesaw affair followed suit, but ECHO finally got its most important break by securing the Luminous Lord in the 26:44-mark — despite losing KarlTzy’s Lancelot in the process.
ONIC PH tried to contain the siege by positioning near ECHO’s base, but a kill on Marky “Markyyyyy” Capacio’s Kimmy and Jaylord “Hatred” Gonzales’ Kagura proved to be the end for ONIC PH.
Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales’ Phoveus led ECHO’s brave stand, finishing with nine kills and 10 assists against one death in the 23-24 nail-biting Game One win in 28 minutes and 43 seconds.
Taking a page out of ECHO’s playbook, ONIC PH fielded in a Johnson-Kadita composition in Game Two in hopes of evening the series.
Indeed, the strategy bore fruit for the MPL Philippines Season Eight grand finalist. With ECHO threatening to come back, Baloyskie (Johnson) found four ECHO members in the left middle lane bush with his Rapid Touchdown.
ONIC PH took out KarlTzy (Aulus) and KurtTzy (Kagura) before eventually securing the Luminous Lord. Another Rapid Touchdown from Baloyskie in the siege ended the game.
Gerald “Dlarskie” Trinchera’s Esmeralda paced ONIC PH with three kills and six assists against one death in the 17-15 Game Two victory in 21 minutes and 42 seconds.
The M3 World Championship silver medalist claimed the fourth spot with 10 points off a 4-2 standing while also handing ECHO its first loss of the season — dropping to 5-1 with 15 points to keep the number one spot.
ONIC PH looks to make it three in a row against RSG PH on Saturday at 8 PM while ECHO looks to bounce back against Nexplay EVOS on Sunday also at 8 PM.
