Laus Playbook Esports’ steady play in the endgame sent Cignal Ultra to the brink of elimination following a 2-0 sweep in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines Season Seven regular season, Thursday afternoon.
Despite surrendering the early game to Bryan “Janus” Badando’s Granger and Jones “RHEA” De Leon’s Balmond, the 1-2 punch of Peter “Jake the Dog” Lapitan (Alice) and Joshua “Aspect” Tating (Ling) managed to drag Game One late to draw first blood.
A hook from Jefferson “Kekedot” Mogol’s Franco on Ian “Beemo” Sergio’s Angela near the lord pit gave Cignal a five-on-four advantage which gave them a clear shot at the lord.
But Playbook, led by Jake the Dog and Aspect, picked off Janus during the lord take which ultimately led to their victory.
Jake the Dog was named the SMART MVP with four assists laced with a kill and two deaths in the 11-7 win which lasted for 21 minutes and 23 seconds.
Playbook then leaned on the Grock-Luo Yi combination of Beemo and Arvin “Arvs” Bacayan in Game Two to seal the 2-0 sweep.
After a nip-and-tuck affair in the early game, Playbook got the much-needed separation after Aspect (Granger) and Arvs peeled Janus’ Lancelot’s health which forced him to retreat.
Beemo then secured the kill after using the Shadow Mask and surprising Janus with a Flicker-Wild Charge combo.
“May nag-shot call samin na u-uwi si Janus, yung Lancelot tapos e wala naman akong ginagawa tapos kita naman namin yung mga kalaban kaya pinuntahan ko na si Janus,” said Beemo.
“Kailangan naming manalo talaga kasi pinipilit naming humabol sa group namin.”
Playbook then secured the lord and the match after taking down Arvie “Aquaboy” Calderon (Zhask) and Rhea (Uranus) and cornering Douglas “ImbaDeejay” Astibe’s Chang’e.
Arvs’ Luo Yi nabbed the SMART MVP plum after finishing with a game-high 12 assists along with a kill and two deaths in the 17-9 Game Two win.
Playbook, who now has eight points through a 3-5 card, moved a point away from Group B fourth placer Execration. Meanwhile, Cignal remained winless in nine outings and currently has three points.
Laus Playbook Esports will next face the league-leading Blacklist International on Saturday at 3:00 pm while Cignal Ultra will try and get their first win against ONIC PH tomorrow at 6:30 pm.
