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| Photo from MPL Philippines |
by Drew Malihan
MAKATI - AP.Bren closes in on the second upper bracket spot as they defeat current top=seeded ECHO, two games to one, in their penultimate game of the MPL Philippines Season 12 regular season on Saturday.
The Hive turned the tables against the Orcas, who have defeated them last September 23 in a 2-0 sweep, with midlaner Alston "Sanji" Pabico leading the way for the men in purple.
ECHO meanwhile suffered their third straight loss after enjoying an 11-0 unbeaten run to start the season.
It was Sanji's tandem Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya was the man of the hour for ECHO in the first game as he led the Orcas in a 16-7 dominant display with the EXP Laner registering a kill and 10 assists while only falling once, while Benedict "Bennyqt" Gonzales's Ixia pick proved to be effective with a 5/0/4 KDA.
Kyle "KyleTzy" Sayson's Baxia did not have a great day in the jungle as he only managed to claim a turtle for AP.Bren, while Karl Gabriel "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno has a better outing with the Akai along with four kills and six assists.
The Hive entered Game 2 with a different result as they grabbed a crucial second win with nine kills to ECHO's six, with skipper Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel getting the MVP nod with two kills and six assists to his name.
Yawi's Minotaur, who did heroic sets in Game 1, had a quiet second game with two deaths and three assists, being the prime target of attacks from AP.Bren's damage dealers, and a missed set in the 26th minute over Rowgien "Owgwen" Unigo's Khufra prompted the ECHO roamer to retreat and the latter to call GGs.
The Hive continued their momentum in the third game with a 16-9 outing over the defending champions, despite ECHO dominating the early game with all three turtles going on their side.
It was the double healer setup of Pheww's Faramis and Owgwen's Minotaur that propel AP.Bren to victory, with the skipper registering 8/0/6 and the roamer dishing 15 assists while only falling twice.
With the win, APBR grabs two points to 24 total alongside a 7-6 win-loss record, while ECHO stayed at the top with 11-3 win loss record, wrapping up their regular season campaign.
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