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| Photo from MPL Philippines |
by Drew Malihan
LAS PIÑAS - Falcon down! I repeat, falcon down!
In what seems to be the best game by far in the entire MPL Philippines Season 13, Liquid Echo need five games to take down first-seed Falcons AP.Bren in the upper bracket finals inside the SM Southmall Events Center on Friday.
With the victory, the Cavalry will be the first Filipino team to book a ticket to the upcoming MSC 2024 as part of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in June.
The Falcons took the first game in a dominant fashion with a 12-2 score line, bannered by Marco "Super Marco" Requitiano's 7/0/3 performance with the Moskov.
Liquid Echo took the next two to secure a 2-1 lead after three games, with Alston "Sanji" Pabico's Novaria and Karl Gabriel "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno's jungle X.Borg taking charge.
However, Falcons AP.Bren extended their series life to a best-of-one as captain Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel's Pharsa did massive damage and forced a Game 5, tallying three kills and five assists.
It was a back-and-forth affair for both teams in the final game, exchanging kill after kill but with the Falcons leading by almost 7,000 gold heading into the final lord dance at 18b minutes.
It was David "FlapTzy" Canon's Barats' walk into the river bush near the lord pit that began the end for FCAP as he melted down thanks to Jaypee "Jaypee" dela Cruz' Kaja's Final Judgment that sent him to the wrong side.
The takedown resulted in an extended team fight, with Super Marco's Roger being shut and Pheww being slain in the mid, flipping the gold lead to Liquid's favor.
Another team fight happened three minutes later, and with Pheww's Valentina being the only one left to defend for Falcons AP.Bren, Liquid Echo called game and headed straight to the base to end Game 5 in 21 minutes.
Falcons AP.Bren will be relegated to the lower bracket where they will await the winner of the lower bracket semifinals between RSG Philippines and Blacklist International.
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