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| Kyle "Koyl" Reyes shouted out loud in victory after Aurora Gaming Philippines dethroned Team Liquid Philippines. Richard Esguerra |
PASIG—Aurora Gaming Philippines put an end to Team Liquid Philippines' long reign as MPL Philippines champion with a dramatic 4-3 lower-bracket final win on Saturday night at the PhilSports Arena.
After blowing a chance to seal the best-of-seven affair in Game 6 and trailing big early in the decider, Aurora PH showed heart down the stretch and stole the win from Liquid PH.
Aurora PH faced a 2-8 kill deficit against Liquid PH before the first Lord of Game 7 showed up, but just as the objective finally came into play, Aurora PH ganked Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno at the top lane to secure the crucial kill that gave Kyle "Koyl" Reyes a free hand at the Lord.
The end came at the second Lord fight, when Reyes secured the Lord and led a wipeout that set up the end-game push in the middle lane.
Aurora PH set up a rematch of the upper bracket finals against Team Falcons Philippines in the Sunday night finale in front of an expected sold-out crowd.
After a 40-minute classic during the regular season and an epic UB finals, both franchises will face off again as they seek their first title in the premier esports league.
Like Falcons PH, Aurora PH also booked its spot in the M8 World Championship, which means the reigning world champion gets to defend its title, marking the first time since M3 champ Blacklist International that the erstwhile world champ got a shot at back-to-back chips when it booked a place in M4.
