Images: Falcons AP.Bren, Fnatic ONIC PH
Falcons AP.Bren and Fnatic ONIC PH are now one step closer towards qualifying for the M6 World Championship.
The action is heating up at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 14 Playoffs as 
Falcons AP.Bren and 
FNATIC Onic PH advanced to the upper bracket finals after defeating 
Blacklist International and 
Aurora Gaming, respectively, in the upper bracket semifinals on Thursday (October 17).
AP.Bren and ONIC PH earned direct berths to the upper bracket semifinals in the Playoffs as the Top 2 seeds from the Regular Season. M5 champions AP.Bren finished as the second seed with a 10-4 record while ONIC PH claimed the top seed with a near-perfect 13-1 record, with their only loss being to Omega Esports in their last match of the Regular Season.
Meanwhile, Aurora and Blacklist first had to fight through the Play-Ins, having finished the Regular Season ranked fourth and sixth, respectively. On the opening day of the Playoffs, Blacklist surprised everyone with a stunning 3-0 sweep over third seed Omega while Aurora outlasted Team Liquid PH in a five-game thriller.
The ensuing upper bracket semifinal matches saw AP.Bren take down Blacklist in a five-game slugfest while ONIC PH made short work of Aurora in a quick 3-0 sweep.
Falcons AP.Bren
vs
Blacklist International
Blacklist entered the first series of the day still riding high on the momentum from their sweep over Omega. Not only did Blacklist win the opening game of the series, they utterly dominated AP.Bren in 11 minutes and racked up 14 kills without a single death.
However, AP.Bren were quick to shake off their game one loss as they equalised the series in a 16-minute game two. The pivotal third game of the series saw AP.Bren continue rolling and on the verge of winning two-straight, but Blacklist managed to hold what would have been the game-ending push and then steal control of the Lord to lead their own siege attempt. Despite being down 9-21 in kills, Blacklist won game three in just under 20 minutes to take a commanding 2-1 series lead.
With their backs against the wall, AP.Bren went blow-for-blow with a determined Blacklist squad in what ended up being a 24-minute marathon. The series hung in the balance during a protracted 4-minute faceoff for control of the Lord late in the game, with AP.Bren subsequently forcing the match to a deciding game five.
Their loss in game four seems to have shaken Blacklist, as they faltered against AP.Bren's onslaught in the decider. And despite Blacklist's best efforts to mount a comeback, AP.Bren proved too much to overcome as they secured the 3-2 series victory after a 16-minute rout.
vs
Aurora GamingDespite losing their last match before the Playoffs, ONIC PH looked as dominant as they did during the Regular Season as they soundly swept Aurora to advance to the upper bracket finals.
Game one saw ONIC PH stomp Aurora to the tune of a 20-2 kill lead in just 9 minutes of action. Aurora put up a better fight in game two and managed to hold on for 16 minutes, though ONIC PH still racked up 15 kills against five deaths as they secured a decisive 2-0 series lead.
Despite a valiant effort from Aurora to extend the series, ONIC PH simply looked unstoppable in game three as they completed the 3-0 series sweep in just under 13 minutes of action and with a 16-8 kill lead.
With the day's results, AP.Bren and ONIC PH both advance to the upper bracket finals on Friday (October 18) and have guaranteed themselves at least a third-place finish as well as $10,000 in winnings. The winner of that heavyweight upper bracket finals matchup will become the first team to qualify for the grand finals as well as the first Filipino representative in the M6 World Championship.
Meanwhile, Blacklist International and Aurora drop down to the lower bracket semifinals. These two squads will be fighting for their tournament lives and the right to play in the final day of the Playoffs on Sunday (October 20).
