On the opening day of the Mobile Legends Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines playoffs, Team Liquid Philippines and TNC prevailed over Team Falcons Philippines and Twisted Minds to survive the knockout rounds.
Hungry to defend its crown, Team Liquid Philippines was quick to take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five series against Team Falcons Philippines, all thanks to goldlaner’s Kiel “Oheb” Soriano key pickoffs during crucial team fights. Facing elimination, Marco “Super Marco” Requitiano pulled his team from the brink with a crucial triple kill by the lord in Game 3 to extend the series.
Game 4 belonged to anyone as both teams traded kills and objectives. But the turning point had been the final lord of the game with the Cavalry not only getting the objective but punishing Team Falcons with two pick-offs, which gave Team Liquid the go signal to end the series and eliminate Team Falcons from the tournament.
In the other knockout match of the day, TNC and Twisted Mind went all out, trading matches in a series that extended to a Game 5.
In the do-or-die game, both TNC and Twisted Minds went for their comfort picks, going for the heroes they know and have found wins on. While it looked like the draft favored Twisted Minds, it was TNC that took advantage in execution as the Phoenix Army punished Twisted Minds in team fights, targeting key heroes and objectives to swiftly take the decider.
The playoffs shift to a double-elimination format heading into the upper bracket semifinals Thursday, starting with Team Liquid Philippines against ONIC Philippines at 3 p.m., followed by Aurora versus TNC at 7p.m.