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| Photo from Moonton |
by Drew Malihan
MAKATI - ECHO closes out the first week of MPL Philippines Season 13 in their favor as they claim a 2-0 win over a young Smart Omega squad inside the Shooting Gallery Studios on Sunday.
It was a fated meetup for both teams, with Smart Omega fielding all but one who played in MDL Philippines Season 2 as part of Smart Omega NEOS, while ECHO rested Karl Gabriel "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno and Benedict "Bennyqt" Gonzales with Justine "Zaida" Palma and Jhonville "Outplayed" Villar in their seats.
The Orcas needed a 27-minute Game 1 match with a late-game lineup with Benedetta playing in the side lanes for Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya, while the Barangay opted for sustain with Ruby, Baxia, and Gloo.
It was Omega actually who led for most of the match, thanks to plays from Louis Gabriel "LOUIS" Ariola's Ruby and Ryan Michi "RAYL" Asaoka's Angela, while Sanford keeps the game from finishing earlier in Omega's favor,
However, an Alston "Sanji" Pabico's classic backdoor pressure keeps ECHO to their feet, until the 26th minute when RAYL was taken down and used the lord to bait LOUIS and Mark "MARKED" Florencio, prompting them to head straight to base and get the first game.
Sanford's antics to keep the game when ECHO was trailing gets himself the MVP nod with a 2/5/4 KDA.
ECHO rolled in the second game with an 18-minute match, with Sanford bagging another MVP with a 5/3/3 record from the Yu Zhong armed with the Petrify.
Jaypee "Jaypee" dela Cruz' Angela assisted in all nine kills, while Zaida and Outplayed combined for three kills and 11 assists, while denying Omega in all two lord takes.
Christian "WERST" Mangabay added two kills and assisted two more for Omega but it was not enough as the Orcas dominated the positioning and agility during the same.
With the win, the teams went separate directions, with ECHO climbing to #2, tied with defending champs AP.Bren, while Smart Omega sank to 7th place with a solitary point in their bag.
ECHO will se RSG and ONIC next week, while Smart Omega will try to bounce back in Week 2 against ONIC and Blacklist International.
Followed him on X: @drew_corner
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