Echo avenged their upper bracket loss with a 3-2 win over RSG Slate Philippines to reach the grand finals for the second straight season in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 11 playoffs at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Sunday.
This will also be the third grand finals series featuring Echo and Blacklist International, after the two disputed the title during Season 10 and the M4 World Championship.
RSG finished third in back-to-back seasons after winning the Season 9 and MLBB Southeast Asian Cup championships.
In Game 1, Echo took the lead after Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno (Fredrin) secured the 7th-minute turtle, along with two kills to establish a 3k gold lead. After securing the 9th-minute lord, Echo did not feel threatened, with Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales (Harith) finding his damage spikes en route to a 7-1-2 KDA.
Game 2 boiled down to a 21st-minute scramble, where Echo sent Bennyqt (Karrie) to the bot lane for a split push, but Dylan “Light” Catipon (Kaja) positioned himself perfectly to deny entry on their base turret and prevent the split push. While this was happening, Nathanael “Nathzz” Estrologo (Arlott) pulled down Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya (Gloo) from the midlane inhibitor turret with the Final Slash to spark a 2-0 pick off that gave RSG enough space to pull off a base turret siege and equalize, 1-1.
Echo shrugged off the loss and quickly imposed their will in Game 3, led by a surprise Faramis pick on Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera, reaching match point by way of a 13-2 kill score during a quick 11-minute affair.
In Game 4, Echo flexed their muscles in the early game as KarlTzy (Martis) single-handedly scored a 3-0 kill score. However, RSG managed to erase a 5k net worth deficit after EMANN (Beatrix) scored a triple kill during the 10th-minute lord fight to complete the reverse. RSG continued to pressure on all lanes and allowed Echo just two additional kills while scoring eight to force a rubber match by the 15th minute.
In Game 5, KarlTzy then put on a clinic with the Lancelot pick, weaving his way through several skirmishes, helping Echo win the series quickly by the 13th minute.
