Echo Philippines |
by Drew Malihan
MANILA - Echo in your area.
Just like Blackpink playing "As If It's Your Last," Echo played as this is their last game with a 2-0 sweep of Bren Esports to finish their MPL Philippines Season 8 Regular Season on a high note.
The former Aura PH squad punched their ticket after two sweep losses in Week 6 against Nexplay Evos and Omega Esports, while Bren came from a 1-1 stand in Week 6.
Echo went to a double mage combo of Yve and Lunox with Mathilda, Thamus, and Hayabusa, while Bren Esports went to their signature Lancelot while fielding Baxia, Pharsa, Alice, and Khufra.
Echo went out to a good start against a rather aggressive Bren quintet, taking the three turtles to gain advantage in economy and map control, picking up KarlTzy three times in nine minutes.
Bren, with their damage output negated with Bennyqt and KurtTzy along with Rafflesia's setups proved to the heel for the M2 World Champions as they were outpaced and outboxed by the Echo five, eventually leading to a wipeout near the lord pit.
From there, Bren switched to defense mode but to no avail as Hadess and Bennyqt get their kills near the Bren to claim the 1-0 advantage led bu Hadess' 8/1/7 and Rafflesia's 2/2/17 performance.
Echo went to a signature Khufra and Alice of Rafflesia and Bennyqt along with Khaleed, Lancelot, and Yve, while Bren fielded a Ling core along with Harley support, benedetta offlane, Chou, and Grock.
It was Bren who got the early game advantage up to the mid game as they grabbed their objectives as well as denying Hadess of his purple buffs.
Echo went to a quick defense mode as they were inferior in the gold game, as Bren get all the turtles and the first lord of the game.
However, Bren's damage were stopped in the 12th minute as Echo got KarlTzy twice as the former calls for a potential GG in the Echo base with the lord.
Echo, with all their turrets down, tried to contest the luminous lord in the 21st minute, and Bennyqt's Alice took the lord steal from KarlTzy, and from there it was all downhill for Bren.
With the luminous lord in their side, Echo called for a GG push, picking Bren heroes one by one until it was all Echo for the taking with a 2-0 win and three points in their bag.
With the win, Echo entered the playoffs with 19 points in total along with a 6-8 win-loss record, saving themselves at least a 6th place spot.
Bren meanwhile has to hope RSG to lose the series against ONIC in a sweep to keep their playoff dreams alive, along with a clash against Blacklist International on Sunday.
Follow him on Twitter: @drewmalihan