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| Hyped to go deep into the playoffs, Aurora is in trouble now of not making the M6 postseason. Moonton |
MANILA--Did some of us hype Aurora a bit too much?
That is the question possibly lingering right now among the Filipino MLBB community after the MPL Philippines newcomer suddenly appears on the brink of failing to make it deeper into the M6 World Championship.
Aurora, who wowed many fans after making the national finals despite being in only its rookie season last month to the point that some believe they could even make the M6 finals, is probably amazed now at how their first opponents in the Swiss stages have shut off the northern lights.
Projected to be 2-0 at this point based on how the pairing draws eventually went, Aurora instead fell to 0-2, dropping tough defeats to Myanmar's Falcon Esports and Singapore's NIP Flash, and is now one defeat away from going home.
So the question again: Is Aurora actually overrated?
NIP Flash head coach Joseph "Zarate" Yeo disagreed with the notion.
"I don't believe that Aurora is overestimated or overrated. To me, they are a super team. They have the best players in their position," Yeo said on Friday after NIP Flash's shocker over Aurora that moved them up to 1-1 in the standings.
So what went wrong for Aurora then?
"Maybe because of the draft and the utilization of heroes, they don't really play well," Yeo responded.
He even believed that NIP Flash caught Aurora off guard on Friday.
"We've been scrimmaging with them a lot, and we've been losing more games to them. Probably they underestimated us in the draft and gameplay," Yeo continued.
One concern from the fans at the moment is the struggles of Edward Dapadap playing Gatotkaca in the EXP lane with some even saying that the MPL Philippines Hall of Legends member is not really known to play the said hero in high-level matches.
However, Yeo is optimistic that if Aurora gets their acts going, they can go on a Cinderella run until some time in the knockout stages.
"They are 0-2 now, but I'm pretty sure they'll get back to 3-2 and they will smash it in the playoffs. There is no way they are not finishing in the Top 4," Yeo said.
Aurora will undergo up to three best-of-three affairs if they want to catch the last ride to the playoffs, but tough opposition awaits them in Turkish side Ulfhednar on Sunday night.
The old Fire Flux franchise, the champion of the wildcard round, also had a shock loss to Michael "Mobazane" Cosgun and Blood Thirsty Kings to open their Swiss stage campaign before falling to Selangor in the next round.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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