With the second day of Knockout Stage action over at MSC 2023, two more teams have been eliminated.
headline photo courtesy of Moonton Games
Day 2 of the Knockout Stage at the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup 2023 came with two eliminations, leaving us with only four teams remaining in the event as the semi-finals draw near. While it was not only clean sweep victories today, it still remained the one-sided affair of Day 1, with things going the way that we expected them to go, leaving us with an interesting assortment of teams heading into the next round.
The Orcas crush the Swordfish
Kicking things off today we saw the clash of the Malaysian champion versus the Philippines champion, as TODAK and ECHO went head-to-head. With the forces of two fierce water-based animals on their side – the Swordfish and the Orcas, these two teams were ready to put their best foot forward as they stepped out into the Land of Dawn. It was clear right from the start that ECHO had the upper hand, with TODAK unable to really fight them. Having claimed the first game, it was all ECHO’s to lose, and we saw the usual brilliance from TODAK once again.
With CikuGais’ attempted backdoor, clearing out his opponent’s base, the Malaysians found themselves in a great spot, even after their own base was taken down to a sliver of health. Tying the series up, TODAK proved that they could fight against the best in the world – but everything went downhill from there, as the Orcas switched into fifth gear and blew through their opponents in the next two games. Unfortunately for TODAK, this would spell the end of their MSC 2023 run, while ECHO moved on into the top 4.
ONIC triumph over EVOS
Next up was a monumental series, a rematch of the MPL ID Season 11 grand finals, as ONIC Esports and EVOS Legends went up against one another. With only one chance for either of these Indonesian giants to be left standing at the end of the day, neither would be backing down. While a low-scoring game was the first to be seen, it was a flawless victory from ONIC to take control of the series.
Going into the next game, the White Tigers brought in their trump card in the form of Dlar, as they hoped to bring the series back to level terms. However, the champions of ID did not let anything remotely close occur, and while EVOS did secure some fantastic pickoffs on occasion, there was absolutely no way for them into the series. With that, the roars of EVOS were silenced as they became the fourth and final team eliminated in the first round of MSC 2023’s Knockout Stage.
Blacklist International, BURN x FLASH, ECHO, and ONIC now remain, as we head into the final two days of the event. Tomorrow we will see both the semi-finals take place, as well as the third/fourth place playoff, as we prepare to find out new MSC 2023 champions.
