Elimination day would be the name of the game at MPL – PH Season 7 Playoffs today with two teams losing their tournament lives over two lower bracket series.
headline image courtesy of Bren Esports
By the end of Day 3 of Mobile Legends Professional League Season 7 Playoffs there would be only four teams remaining in the event as we head towards the grand finals. With a double dose of elimination series on the cards today, things were definitely heating up and the teams knew that their tournament lives were on the line as they marched into battle.
Bren battle on
Although they started in the upper bracket of the playoffs, yesterday’s amazing series against Blacklist International saw Bren Esports falling into the lower bracket. The Season 6 champions would be matched against a team which they seemed to have the drop on during the Regular Season, Work Auster Force, who they took a double victory over. But with elimination on the cards, no team would be giving up without a fight.
The fight from both “The Rookies” and the Season 6 champions showed in game 1 as everything went back-and-forth for over half an hour. While Auster seemed to have the early advantage, Bren’s experience shone through as time went on, giving them the series lead. Nothing changed in the next game, as both teams went between claiming objectives and taking fights – but in the end, it was Auster who managed to tie up the series.
With things equal, Bren drafted a fast paced, early game lineup, which Auster seemed completely unable to deal with. At 12-minutes in, Bren decided that it was time to end and Chuu was nowhere to be seen, as they smashed into series point. Bren, looking to mimic their M2 World Championship lower bracket run as they punished Auster in game 4 to take the series 3-1 and send their opponents packing from MPL – PH S7.
Triple Arrivals for Execration
One elimination down and one to go, it was time to look to Omega Esports and Execration, a series which needs settling after the teams drew even through the Regular Season. That said, this was also a series built on revenge, after it was Omega who knocked XctN out of the Season 6 playoffs and now wanted another taste of grand final MPL – PH action in hopes of finally claiming the championship crown.
A triple Arrival and “feeding Bane” strategy was what we witnessed coming out from Execration going into the series, and somehow it worked. Although Omega managed to wipeout their opponent at one point, Kelra’s 1/17/1 MVP was claimed via a backdoor play which won the game for XctN. As was to be expected from teams fighting against elimination, Omega fought back soon after to tie the series, looking far better when not faced with a cheese strategy.
With the two teams being very evenly matched, the next two games showed just how much staying in the tournament meant to both teams. It was XctN who took control of game 3, with Kelra once again showing up big to pull his team through to a win. But, in under 10-minutes of game 4, Omega had tied the series again, taking the rivalry through to a fifth game.
Much like before, it was nearly impossible to split the two teams in the decisive game, with XctN having the early advantage, while Omega turned things around during the mid-game period. But, it took a single fight around Lord, in which Omega claimed the objective but lost three in the ensuing fight, for XctN to capitalise on their advantage and take the series 3-2, this time being the ones to send Omega home early.
Only four teams now remain in the running for the MPL – PH Season 7 championship: Aura PH, Blacklist International, Bren Esports and Execration. Tomorrow we will see the penultimate day of action from the teams, with Aura and Blacklist starting the day in the upper bracket final before Bren and XctN attempt to take a top 3 position.
