Photo: MPL Philippines

By Tiffany Dela Cruz

ONIC PH and Omega Esports rounded out the top four after contrasting victories in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 17 play-in stage on Wednesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Up against a surging Aurora squad, ONIC PH escaped with a marathon Game 5 victory, taking the series 3-2 to keep its title hopes alive and punch a ticket to the upper bracket semifinals, where it will face second-seeded Team Falcons PH.

Holding his ground with excellent positioning throughout the final clash, Indonesian import Clayton “Savero” Kuswanto on Karrie consistently found openings to punish Aurora and ultimately helped spell the difference in ONIC PH’s hard-fought victory.

Savero finished with a clean 6-0-3 KDA (kill-death-assist) line in the 15-4 Game 5 win that lasted nearly 22 minutes, turning in a composed performance that anchored ONIC PH’s decisive finish in the series decider.

The loss effectively ended Aurora’s bid for a spot in the M8 World Championship, cutting short their campaign and ruling out any chance of a title defense on the international stage.

Meanwhile, Omega Esports overcame a slow start to complete a 3-1 gentleman’s sweep over Twisted Minds and book a clash with defending back-to-back champion Team Liquid PH.

The Smart-backed squad dropped the first game of the series, before taking the next three highlighted by a dominant Game 4 outing where they kept Twisted Minds scoreless in the first 14 minutes en route to a dominant 12-1 win.

Dean “Raizen” Sumagui delivered five kills and three assists against one death on Suyou, while John “Perkz” Sumawan dished out 12 assists on Khaleed.