Photo from MPL Philippines |
by Drew Malihan
MAKATI - ECHO hold firm to solo first place in the MPL Philippines Season 12 table after sweeping resilient TNC Pro Team to continue their regular season campaign Saturday.
Both teams did not change their lineup for this match as they both came from wins, with TNC coming off from a 2-0 win against Minana EVOS while ECHO sweep Smart Omega last Friday.
The defending champs executed a 17-5 domination in the first game with Karl Gabriel "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno's Joy enjoying an MVP performance with eight kills and five assists, while Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya tallied four kills and seven assists.
TNC struggled with their damage dealers being the target of Orcas' pickoffs with John Vincent "Innocent" Banal, Jetson "Goyo" Ignacio, and King Cyric "K1NGKONG" Perez combining for 12 of 17 total deaths.
The Phoenix Army pulled a closer Game 2 affair with a toe-to-toe battle, thanks to Kristofer Malcus "Hesu" Calderon's Uranus taking most of the ECHO damage, and Jaypee "Jaypee" dela Cruz being subject of pickoffs, falling down five times.
However, Jaypee's pickoff to Ben "Benthings" Maglaque proved to be big time for the Orcas as the rest of the Phoenix Army fell one by one inside their base, and with the lord in their side, ECHO wrapped the game in 18 minutes, 16-12.
It was Sanford's X.Borg who got the MVP nod with four kills and ten assists to his name, while Benedict "Bennyqt" Gonzales tallied 6/2/6 KDA with the Karrie.
Meanwhile KarlTzy's 3/2/6 performance with the Martis took him the honor of the first player in MPL Philippines history to tally at least 1,600 kills, earning it by shutting down K1NGKONG's Fanny near the 17th minute.
ECHO, now 4-0, will try to extend their streak against RSG Philippines, while TNC will try to look for their second win against Smart Omega will face Omega Esports, both on Sunday.
Follow him on X: @drew_corner