TL;DR: Day 1 of the MPL PH Season 18 Playoffs at PhilSports Arena delivered two 3-2 escapes. ONIC survived TNC, and reigning M7 world champions Aurora Gaming PH outlasted Omega. Both advance to the upper bracket semifinals today: ONIC faces Team Falcons PH at 3PM, then Aurora takes on Team Liquid PH at 7PM. TNC and Omega are out.
If Day 1 was any indication, this playoff run is going to be a stressful one for fans. Both series went the full distance, and both higher seeds needed every last game to survive.
Day 1 recap
ONIC PH 3, TNC Pro Team 2. ONIC raced to a 2-0 lead, pero TNC refused to go quietly and dragged the series to a deciding Game 5. ONIC finally closed it out by storming the base while TNC was short-handed. The win keeps ONIC’s streak of four straight top-four finishes alive, and their hopes of returning to the grand final after missing it the last two seasons.
Aurora Gaming PH 3, Omega Esports 2. The reigning world champions were pushed to the brink by an aggressive Omega squad that had Aurora down to one defender in Game 3. Aurora clawed back and sealed the deciding game with a clutch team fight. After an early exit last season, this was a big relief for the Aurora faithful.
TNC’s “unli-rice” run ends here, and Omega’s surprising season is over, though both went down swinging.
Day 2: Upper bracket semifinals
Now the top two seeds enter the picture, and the double elimination stage begins. Winners go straight to the upper bracket final tomorrow. Losers drop to the lower bracket, so walang matatanggal today, pero the road gets a lot harder.
3:00 PM: Team Falcons PH vs. ONIC PH. Falcons finished second in the regular season and have looked sharp since Hadji joined. ONIC has a problem to solve: they haven’t won a series against Falcons or Liquid all season.
7:00 PM: Team Liquid PH vs. Aurora Gaming PH. This is the one to watch. Liquid, the three-time defending champions chasing a four-peat, went 12-2 in the regular season, and one of those two losses came against Aurora. It’s the three-peat kings versus the world champions, and both teams know a spot in the M8 World Championship in Istanbul is on the line.
What’s next
| Date | Time (PHT) | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 23 (Fri) | 3:00 PM | Lower Bracket Semifinal |
| Oct 23 (Fri) | 7:00 PM | Upper Bracket Final |
| Oct 24 (Sat) | 5:00 PM | Lower Bracket Final |
| Oct 25 (Sun) | 5:00 PM | Grand Final |
The champion and runner-up will represent the Philippines at M8. Catch every match live on the MPL Philippines Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok pages, with Filipino and English broadcasts.
Sino ang bet niyo tonight, Liquid or Aurora? Sound off in the comments.
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