Falcons AP Bren, Team Liquid Echo sweep foes in MPL PH Playoffs Day 2

MANILA, Philippines – Top-seeded teams Falcons AP Bren and Team Liquid ECHO made quick work of Blacklist International and RSG Philippines, respectively, in the upper bracket semifinals of the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 13 Playoffs.

Making their first appearance since the acquisition of their former organization, Team Liquid Echo wasted no time in taking down RSG Philippines, 3-0, with all three matches lasting under 15 minutes. 

"This is not the team that I know," admitted RSG Philippines' coach Brian "Panda" Lim in the post-match conference after RSG had struggled with the match-up.  He added that Team Liquid was the better team in terms of draft and preparation in this series.

On the side of Team Liquid Echo, after their losing streak at the end of the regular season, the team had prepared heavily for the game.

"Expected na namin yung drafts and maganda rin yung laro ng mga players as well as yung comms nila," shared Coach Archie “Tictac” Reyes.

The story was the same with the second match of the day: Falcons AP Bren versus Blacklist International, with the bees sweeping Blacklist International 3-0, with all three games lasting less than 17 minutes.

The Codebreakers had survived nine games the day before and though the longevity of their stint at the playoffs hadn't slowed down the players, it was the number of information that was made available to their opponents that had been the factor.

"Hindi naman naka-apekto [yung nine games yesterday]. Hindi yung pagod yung factor. If ever man, dahil sa sobrang daming games na napanood [ng Falcons AP Bren] kahapon. Sobrang dami naming nalabas na combination kahapon and palagay ko it was enough for them na pag-aralan at paghandaan yung drafts namin," said Kristoffer "Bon Chan" Ricaplaza.

Falcons AP Bren's coach Francis "Ducky" Glindro confirmed this in their post-match interview, saying that the team had referenced Blacklist International's nine-game play-ins to prepare for their match-up.

"We had good references from yesterday, how they performed and their drafts, which made us more prepared for this match-up," said Glindro.

The playoffs continue Friday, May 23 at 4 p.m., with the upper bracket finals between Falcons AP Bren and Team Liquid Echo, followed by the lower bracket match-up between Blacklist International and RSG Philippines.