The MPL-PH might be over but according to Aether Main, it’s only the beginning for them.

Day 1 Recap

It was Championship Sunday for the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL), and thousands of fans have gathered to witness the conclusion of the biggest Mobile Legends tournament in the Philippines. Tournament favored team Aether Main closed it out in style, but the surprises came in before the Grand Final. From pocket strategies, cheese picks, upset victories, and tons of highlight plays — MPL Grand Finals day was a treat for all Mobile Legends fans.

Invictus Godz eliminate Demon Kings

Invictus Godz might not have the bigger following as compared to the three main teams in the MPL (Aether, Digital Devils, and Obsidian Gaming), but they surely showed up in the LAN Finals. Already earned the respect of everyone after winning 2-0 versus Aether Valkyrie yesterday, they proceed to outclass Demon Kings in two quick games.

Demon Kings started the game really well and were in quite of a networth lead during Game 1. However, with the better mid-game lineup of a triple tank set-up in Grock, Lolita, and Jawhead, Invictus Godz were able to pull away with the victory. They even ended it up with a full Ace. Game 2 wasn’t even close, as Invictus Godz got their hands on their winning recipe of a triple tank set-up — this time, Jawhead and Lolita with the Akai. Invictus Godz take the series 2-0.

Digital Devils Pro Gaming oust Aether Valkyrie

Aether Valkyrie didn’t look like they found their second wind after their first round loss versus Invictus Godz. Although after Game 1 of their Lower Bracket Round 2 match versus Digital Devils Pro Gaming (DDPG), they looked pretty strong. The 12 minute match was one-sided favoring Aether Valkyrie, and it seemed as if they were en route to eliminating the last Digital Devils team.

However, DDPG stroke back come Game 2. Seemingly adjusting to the MPL Lan Finals metagame, DDPG drafted a triple tank set-up with Chou, Jawhead, and Lolita. The fast-paced lineup snowballed heavily, and Aether Valkyrie just succumbed after 18 minutes.

The third game looked to be Aether Valk’s game: however, come the 6:20 mark, DDPG made the game-clinching play by stealing the Lord and outright winning the 4v5 skirmish and turned the game around to their favor. This gave a lot of space and global gold for DDPG.Pheww’s Fanny to be an unstoppable force as the game progressed. DDPG snatched the series away from Aether Valkyrie, and advanced to the Lower Bracket Round 3.

Aether Main routs Obsidian Gaming, earns seat to the Grand Final

When Obsidian Gaming (Obs Gaming) went to the MPL stage since the tournament started, it was apparent that their fanbase was huge. However, Aether Main brought in their A Game as they breezed through their rival team Obs Gaming in two one-sided victories for their Upper Bracket Finals match-up.

Game 1 is about Aether Main’s Yellyhaze showing off with his classic Chou, proving to be too much of a playmaker for Obs Gaming’s Yolo (playing Johnson) and Dian (playing Grock). A two-for-three tradeoff favoring Aether Main by the 6 minute mark seems to be the game-clinching clash for Aether Main: Yellyhaze barely survives but with calculated maneuvers and beautiful connections with his crowd control skills, Aether Main just rode off the momentum and won the game from there.

Game 2 was then about a pocket strategy from Aether Main. During the regular season, Aether Main was successful with their few Aurora games, and they employed it in this specific game. While they gave away the Helcurt to Obs Gaming, they easily controlled the pick with their immense of lockdown and disables between their Aurora, Martis, and Grock pick. Obs Gaming tried to be cheeky with their Leslie pick which did not work at all. The multiple stun connections with the Ashura Aura from Aether’s Martis, though flashy, were merely icing on the cake, as the Aether Main punched their ticket to the Grand Final.

DD.PG defeats Invictus Godz on the way to the LB Final

Invictus Godz really made it hard for DDPG, especially during their first game. Invictus Godz let Pheww’s Fanny through the draft, while also drafting a Ruby as one of their tanks. It looked one-sided for DDPG come the mid-game, but because of their heavy dives, they were punished on and on by Invictus Godz. This match slowly became the longest game of the day, ending in 31 brutal minutes Invictus Godz. The game went the distance, but the superior firepower from DDPG overwhelmed Invictus Godz in the end.

DDPG’s Yackou earned his street credit as a top Alpha player — and come Game 2 they got their hands on it, whereas Invictus Godz tried to answer it with an Argus pick. Needless to say, it did not work, as Yackou had an essentially free game, alongside Pheww’s Gusion and Tets’ Akai making so much good plays with him. It took DDPG 11 minutes to eliminate Invictus Godz and advance to the Lower Bracket Final.

Obs Gaming crumbles, DD.PG take Grand Final slot

Obsidian Gaming looked to be in control of the series after Game 1 of their match-up versus DDPG. Their triple tank lineup of Akai, Lolita, and Jawhead were too much for the double mage set-up for DDPG. They overwhelmed DDPG with an immense amountof initiations, teamfight and sustain in 9 minutes of torture. Obs Gaming were just one win away from a re-match against Aether Main after that 16-2 kill score victory.

DDPG considered a different approach to win over Obs Gaming come Game 2 by employing a late-game lineup around a single tank Grock (they also banned out the Chou and the Jawhead, diminishing the amount of playmakers for their opponent). Obs Gaming were also quite in control of the game, but as the game progressed, their firepower died down. DDPG were able to hold on up until the late game, and made an incredible play to mount their comeback: by the 25 minute mark, DDPG contested the Level 4 Lord and exchanged one hero for three kills versus Obs while stealing the Lord at the same time. DDPG even the series up a few minutes thereafter.

DDPG got their hands on Yackou’s Alpha once again for Game 3, and backed it up with their comfort picks in Grock + Lolikta + Kagura. It looked to be a completely even game at the start, but by the 7-minute mark, DDPG were able to pick off Obs’ Z4pnu which easily translated into two turret takes. The game-clinching play was by the 9:26 mark, where Yolo, Dian, and jeffqt4ever tried to cut the Lord take by DDPG — this maneuver ended up badly, as they were all picked apart by DDPG and they eventually lost five heroes. The game was over by 11 minutes, and Obs Gaming just exit the tournament at third place.

Aether Main outclassed DDPG, win the first MPL championship

Game 1 of the Grand Finals was a treat for all MPL fans, as Aether Main showed a pocket pick Pharsa. Yellyhaze opted for the Grock (even when they had the Chou) and was totally brilliant for Aether Main. Yuji’s Pharsa was extraordinary as well, even facilitating for a 4-2 tradeoff during the early stage of the game by closing in on a kill on a Jawhead, scoring the Feathered Air Strike snipe from long distance and even without vision. Needless to say, Aether Main played wonderfully around their Pharsa, and Yuji was untouchable the whole game. 12 minutes was enough for Aether Main to get the first game.

During Game 2, DDPG got their hands on their comfort Alpha pick. They even got the Fanny to go with it. However, Aether Main were more than prepared for Pheww, as they got their hands on lockdown heaven with Jawhead, Akai, Martis, Harley, and Saber. It looked promising for DDPG during the early stages of Game 2, controlling many portions of the map for most of the early and mid-game. Unfortunately, during the latter stages of the game, Aether was able to fish where Pheww was playing around and picked him off, and was able to regain control of the game. The skirmishes were pretty close, but over the course of the match, DDPG grew impatient. The clash during the 23 minute mark was horrible for DDPG, as they went in one-by-one against Aether. Aether punished them heavily, and placed themselves one win away from championship.

Game 3 wasn’t even close. It’s an utter destruction, even. Aether got all of their comfort picks, such as the Lancelot for Pein and Chou for Yellyhaze. With classic Yellyhaze turnarounds — wherein he survives with a sliver of health and turn the fight around because his enemies are always trying to chase him down — Obs Gaming looked totally disoriented. Their Johnson pick for Dee did not even go online at all, not in teamfights nor turret defenses.

Aether Main even did their classic 5-man standoff at their enemie’s base, recalling back before finishing the core. 14-1 was the final score for the last game, and Aether Main become the first champion for the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League in the Philippines.

“You know, they should stop wishing is good luck and just congratulate us from the start. (Alam mo, dapat hindi na good luck yung sinasabi sa amin, dapat congrats na agad),” says AE Pein team captain of Aether Main. It was refreshing to see this kind confidence in Philippine esports, where players would usually be very polite and timid. Each week of the competition, AE Main showed us that behind the stunts, the attitude, and the highlights was a team that could deliver it all to us and then some–in other words, they’re confident because they have something to be confident about. Their plays and presence in this competition not only provided us with an exceptional show of talent but also a mindset that should be emulated by aspiring pro gamers everywhere. Let’s get to know the team whose influence completely reshaped the way Filipinos played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.

AE Yuji, you mentioned in an interview before that you were aiming to be considered the “Mage God” of the Philippines once people got to notice your accomplishments in this competition. Do you think you’ve accomplished this and if so, would that mean the next step for Aether Main is going to be to compete internationally?

I’m not boasting or anything but I think I have. We’re definitely eyeing the international arena. We currently have no one on our level to have scrims with and we still have a few hidden picks and strategies we want to try out. I think the next step for me should be becoming the Mage God of Southeast Asia and if there will ever be a world championship, being Mage God of the world doesn’t sound that bad.

AE Yellyhaze, everyone knows that AE Main is made up of superstars in the Mobile Legends Bang Bang scene. How different is playing with this particular AE team from your past teams?

I think what made the most difference was the bootcamp that (AkoSi) Dogie, our coach, had us go through. There’s a world of difference when practicing with people who are beside you rather than just over the Internet. I honestly didn’t expect our team to perform this well together that’s why I’m so happy that everything worked out. Though, I also brought everything I learned from my past teams as well and combined that with what I learned in AE.

AE Pein, considering that you brought this team together, how do you feel right now after all of your hard work has finally paid off?

I’m just speechless. I can’t believe how strong our team has grown. I’m really thankful to be in the same team as these guys. We proved to everyone that we are really the strongest team in the Philippines. I think it was destined for us all to meet to be able to achieve this.

AE Ribo, you guys performed exceptionally well throughout the entire competition even during this high-stakes Grand Finals. You yourself were awarded with two medals and were crowned the MVP. How were you and your team able to accomplish such an incredible feat? What do you think separates you and Aether Main from the other participants in this competition?

I couldn’t have accomplished this without the help of my team. We really worked hard for this and I’m glad it paid off. I guess people were really impressed with Aether Main’s level of gameplay. As for the MVP title, I guess people seldom take notice or realize how large of an impact a support can be so I have the advantage of staying lowkey while I get to do what I want on the map and influence the game.

AE Coco, a lot of people consider Aether Main the ones who continue to define the meta of MLBB. Now that it’s season 9, where do you think the game is going? Is the future bright for MLBB?

We’re expecting a lot of new heroes to come in season 9 so you can expect the meta to change a lot in the future. We’re always practicing and thinking of new ways to subvert the meta. We developed our Pharsa pick especially for our series against DD Pro Gaming since they were the only ones we lost to in the regular season.

AE 666, the most important question goes to you. What will you guys do with the $32,084.00?

We’re going to do something good with it. I can’t say what that is for now but expect something great from us in the near future. We’ll be competing in more international competitions like the MSC Invitational to compete against the best teams in South East Asia in a few months time.

..

 Upsets and comebacks, left and right

Despite the weird weather, obnoxious traffic, and long lines to enter the venue, all you hardcore Mobile Legends fans showed your undying support for your favorite teams by being here with us in the MOA Music Hall. We’ve never seen the teams this pumped up before and we have you guys to thank for the quality of gameplay we got to witness from all our players (not to mention all the awesome clippable highlights we can’t wait to show you guys). In fact, we are so excited that we just needed to talk about these unforgettable and unbelievable moments so here’s our day one rundown of the most exciting moments of this historic day for mobile gaming.

OBS Gaming vs DD No Limit

OBS Gaming’s Z4pnu and Pakbet brought the house down by just walking across the stage to their seats. You cheers from OBS Gaming’s fans rocked the MOA music hall but DD No Limit didn’t even waver. The first game was super close thanks to DDNL’s Jana that kept Z4pnu’s Fanny in check for the entire game. But thanks to Dian’s clutch Akai plays, Z4pnu finally got to get some free AOE damage off, which eventually got OG the win.

The second game was a struggle for OG seeing as they couldn’t get any definitive wins during the clashes. Thanks to DDNL’s really good map control, even if DDNL loss the teamfight, OG couldn’t capitalize because there were no objectives to get. Eventually, because of a poor fight by OG during the late game, the death timers were enough for DDNL to destroy OG’s base.

We haven’t seen crowd favorite Pakbet go online in the past two games so when he got his best hero, Harley, the crowd went wild. OG really stepped up their game from having solo-player mindsets to finally working as a team and making good rotations, which resulted in a clear win for OG.

Invictus Godz vs OBS Gaming

We started game one with a few respect bans with OG banning Fanny and Martis and IG banning Lancelot and Helcurt. Jeffqt4ever being very aggressive chasing down IG Helena halfway across the map. IG sneaked a turtle to equalize the farm advantage OG had. After getting a few more picks, OG secured a turtle and widened the gold lead to 3k. OBS Gaming pushed their map advantage further by ambushing IG members that were trying to farm. A few minutes later OBS Gaming scored the nine-minute win thanks to some really good map rotations, utilizing the Lord to make the final push to IG’s base.

In the second game, both teams got their counter picks IG Vhen got his Fanny and OG Pakbet got his Harley, what we didn’t expect though was the Alice, last picked by IG Vmpire. OG Jeffqt4ever got ganked early, which forced him to flicker away to his tower leaving his Hanabi vulnerable. OG Jeffqt4ever and OG Z4pnu secured the turtle quickly furthering OG’s lead to 2k. OG continue to pressure every lane, leading to them destroying the first wave of IG’s towers and allowing them to constantly invade IG’s jungle. After a few small victories, OG went for the safe Lord with a 9k gold lead in their pockets. They eventually went for the last push along with the Lord securing their place in the Winners’ finals.

Aether Main vs DD Professional

Everyone’s been dying to see if DD Professional, the only team to give the seemingly untouchable Aether Main their single loss in the regular season, will be the ones to finally bring Aether Main down from their top spot. It was very disappointing to see DD Pheww’s Harley get picked off even before the minions got to lane due to careless pathing by him. Due to this error, DDPG had a shaky start until a miracle turtle steal by DD Dee’s Grock got DDPG back in the game. But a few errors like Yakou’s overconfidence while pushing towers gave Yellyhaze the opportunity to get some picks off with his Noumenon Blast. Even though DD Dee tried to keep his team in the game with his fearless Grock plays, the lanes rotations of AE Main were too quick for DDPG to counter leading to an eventual victory for AE Main.

DDPG were doing really well during the early game but because of a bit of indecision and miscommunication, no one tried to do Turtle despite DDPG getting a decisive teamfight win near the turtle. AE Main capitalized on this indecision and got two turtles in a row. Even though DDPG counter-picked Pein’s Fanny with a Cyclops, Diggie, and a Martis, AE Main baited out their key skills and played around their cooldowns while totally destroying them underneath their towers. A very convincing victory for AE Main to put an end to this heated rivalry… at least for now.

If we didn’t know any better, it felt like all these matches could be considered Grand Finals level because of how heated the players and the crowd were. We can barely wait to see what tomorrow’s Grand Finals will be like. You better be present whether you’re at home streaming or you’re with us here at MOA Music Hall. Games start tomorrow 10 a.m. Don’t miss your chance to witness this Legendary event.

Some of our predictions of what’ll happen tomorrow in the finals

After months of intense competition we’ll finally get to witness the pinnacle of Philippine Mobile Legends: Bang Bang gaming at this year’s MPL-PH finals. The teams have fought their way to where they are now with all they’ve got so it’s no surprise to see some significant improvement not just with their teamplay but as professional players. For most of these teams, it’s their first taste of national level competition and the regular season has definitely made them more mature and well-rounded players. Let’s look at how much these teams have grown these past few months.

DD Pro Gaming

The only team that was able to put their mark on Aether Main’s near perfect record. They finished at fourth place in the regular season because of how the ranking works based-off previous matches but are tied for second-place with OBS Gaming and Aether Valkyrie for second-place score-wise. They’re definitely the front runners among the three Digital Devils teams that have qualified for the finals.

OBS Gaming

Being the crowd favorite is definitely both a curse and a blessing for teams. The popularity of their star player Z4pnu has definitely brought attention to OG games but what we didn’t expect was to for the other players to gain a following as well. OG Pakbet and OG Jeffqt4ever have become crowd favorites and have racked in praise from the game analysts. Dian and YOLO have also proved themselves as capable playmakers by switching up roles and succeeding in taken on the carry role from time to time. OG has definitely proven that they aren’t a one-man show.

Invictus Godz

Invictus Godz have shown that they can handle most of the teams stuck in the lower ranked half but haven’t really performed well against the top tier teams. Their super carry Kirito hasn’t fared well against the other super carries of the top tier teams like AE Coco when he doesn’t get his Lancelot. Though he did quite well against OG Z4pnu  when he did get his Lancelot. It’s really a hit or miss with this team so they better find their stride quick if they want to make an upset tomorrow.

Digital Devils No Limit

Despite being in the lower half of the placings, DDNL have actually managed to tie with most of the teams in the competition, even OBS Gaming and Aether Valkyrie who both belong in the upper half. That said, nothing spectacular can be said about their playstyle as it predominately still revolves around getting their carries fed early in order to close the game before the enemy team gets a chance to retaliate, which makes teams that tend to stall the game like OBS Gaming to be at a disadvantage.

Digital Devils Demon Kings

Like DDNL, DDDK concentrates on capitalizing on early wins and farm to snowball their lead. Their main carry Dysania and mage YB420 can carry very effective if everything goes well. But their main weakness really shows when they have trouble closing games because of the stall tactics of other teams. Hopefully they’ve worked on these weaknesses for the finals.

Aether Main

The results of the regular seasons speak for themselves. Aether Main is definitely the team to beat and they let everyone know it. They’ve polished their teamwork so much that every strategy they utilize makes it seem like executing the plays are second-nature to them. Discussing the factors that contribute to how powerful this team actually is will take a whole other article; luckily we’ve already written about that right here (link article pls).

White Rascals

The White Rascals could be considered the most improved team of the regular season. No one expected them to actually make it to the finals, seeing as they technically didn’t qualify at first for the regular season but they have proved all their naysayers wrong. Right now, they’re developing new strats for the finals, which you can read more about in this article (pls link).

Aether Valkyrie

Don’t sleep on Aether Valkyrie because these guys have definitely stepped up their game since their complete loss against their sister team. They made their way to second place during the last weeks of competition and they only seem to get better with each game. We’re really excited about how they’ll perform considering they had all this time to practice with our first placers.

Taking a Good Long Look at Aether Main’s loss to DD Pro Gaming 

Short answer: No. But you could probably already tell that by looking at the glaring stain on their otherwise pristine record during the regular season. Now, it would easy to breakdown the match to nitpick each and every little mistake that lead to Aether Main’s lone defeat against DD Pro Gaming but even their opponents did analyze this particular game, they wouldn’t even be close to developing a solid game plan to beat AE Main. Why? Because Aether Main isn’t that weak of a team.

In fact, I would be as bold to say that they might be the strongest team to ever compete in a national competition thanks to the all-star lineup they have now. That said, they’re still human and have tendencies that are definitely exploitable given the right circumstances so let’s get to know Aether Main a little more, shall we?

It wouldn’t be strange to start with Pein, because he is indeed the pillar that supports the entire team not just because he’s the captain but more than that, it’s how he’s able to influence the entire mindset of his team. He sets the bar for the quality of play he expects from his team. It seems like each game Aether Main plays, he goes into it saying, “We’re not here to win. We’re here to dominate,” and that just contributes all the more to bring out the talent of each member. But shining as a captain has exposed one of his greatest weaknesses he has—he can’t be their carry.

Not because he’s weak player because he actually has godly mechanics but because of how heavily his team relies on him to change the tides of the game. He is aware that he’s a very cerebral player and that he can get into his opponent’s heads, which would explain why AE Main is so famous for their taunts.

In Aether Main vs Aether Valkyrie, we saw Pein completely single-handedly dominate the enemy team with his clutch Angela plays. He knows his teammates and can analyze the flow of the game so well that he can perfectly move the way that would benefit his team the most. But in their match against DD PG, we saw how he tends to overcompensate sometimes due to this pressure to become the “hero” that could inspire his team to victory, which he has done several times before as the secondary carry of AE Main. This mentality and confidence leads him to somewhat tunnel vision and focus on solo-plays, which he could definitely pull-off but with a greatly lessened percentage of success compared to their overwhelmingly consistent and effective team plays.

AE Yuji and AE Yellyhaze are both great players, probably the best in the competition in their respective roles but when they’re together, that’s when they become unbeatable. AE Yellyhaze is great all around tank with the mechanics to back it up but his specialty is really peeling for his teammates, which goes well with AE Yuji’s exceptional kiting ability. AE Yellyhaze has enough skill to keep the opponents at bay because of his aggressive in-and-out playstyle, which really shines when he plays mobile tanks like Chou. Both of their playstyles primarily relies on taking the agro of the enemy team and escaping with only a sliver of health, while carries like AE Coco deal free damage to the enemy.

AE Coco is mechanically on par with the best players out there but what separates him from most carries is that he isn’t selfish. Often, most of his deaths are from saving his allies like Yellyhaze and Juji by sacrificing himself. While admirable and effective at times, he has to think of himself sometimes, especially when he plays marksmen. He has one of the best farming rotations among the carries in the competition but all that goes to waste if he dies because he makes up most of the gold value of his team. Yuji and Yellyhaze compensate for Coco’s selfless playstyle by forcing the opponents to focus them by being massive threats to the enemy, making it seem like they are the carries of AE.

The only workaround to this strat is to not focus Yuji and Yellyhaze and bait Coco into over-committing like what PG Tets did in their game, which served as the turning point of the second game of AE Main vs DD Pro Gaming. PG Tets isn’t as mechanically gifted as Yellyhaze but it could be argued that PG could be the better tank when it comes to micro gaming, as he really noticed key turning points in skirmishes. PG Tets is probably one of the most patient players in the MLBB scene right now and if a team were to have a chance against the AE powerhouses, they have to really be picky with their fights and not let themselves get baited by AE Yuji’s and AE Yellyhaze’s plays.

Ribo and the sixth man 666 have had some great showings in the regular season, particularly Ribo on his Aurora and Karina who got fed in 90% of AE Mains games. That said, they aren’t the true carries of Aether Main because Coco already claimed that title and that’s why they create the biggest imbalance in the team as seen in AE Main versus OBS Gaming. AE Ribo was forced to play Helios, a low-impact tank that serves mainly as a follow-up initiator for a true engage tank such as AE Yellyhaze’s Akai in that particular game. Before AE turned the tides that game with a really good team fight, he had a score of 1/5/9 and played a pretty uncharacteristic backseat playstyle of the rest game.

Both AE Ribo and 666 have aggressive playstyles that focus on making really big and impactful plays. Honestly, they could become really good carries for other teams but AE Main doesn’t really need anymore carries. One of AE Main’s double-edged swords comes from the fact that any of them can play (and arguably, based-off from what we’ve seen from them, wants to play) a carry role. This doesn’t simply mean they all want to play assassins but rather, they play impactful heroes because they all have this mentality that they have to play a vital part in how their team’s victory.

AE Main’s teamplay is clearly a cut above the rest and their members are no joke but that doesn’t mean they’re untouchable. All of the teams in the finals have their own quirks and strats that if pulled off correctly should be able to give AE Main a run for their money. I felt a bit disappointed after watching most of the interviews with the teams because they seem to view AE Main as a team they don’t want to face early on in the finals. You can’t have that kind of attitude when you’re facing a team like AE Main, whose goal is to completely show off how better they are than you. Show us what you got, qualifying teams for the MPL-PH Finals 2018. If a lowly e-sportswriter can dissect a team like this, we’re expecting a whole lot more from pros such as yourselves. Don’t let us down.

Win or lose it’s the strat they choose… or is it?

A few strategies have developed in the Mobile Legends Philippine meta because if the MPL-PH regular season. First, Marksmen were set aside in lieu of more impactful early-to-mid game assassins, then suddenly old control mages and CC tanks came back to counter these mobile assassins then finally other niche strategies like picking Diggy to counter engage tanks and CC mages that began to become popular once the teams started to figure out their opponents’ strategies. Nearly all of the teams altered their playstyle according to the habits of their weekly matches in order to be able to dictate the flow of the match. But one team dared to stick to what they knew best and live or die by it.

The White Rascals made use of their split-pushing strat from their qualifying matches up to their last games of the regular season. The only difference was that they made use of different split-pushers like Argus, Zilong, and Hayabusa depending on whether how much dueling power and escape they felt like they needed to have. We only saw them change up roles a bit in week 5 and the tie-breaker match against DD No Limit, which didn’t pan out well for them.

Their split-pushing strat revolved around their player Kaizoku who constantly split-pushed despite how his team was performing in teamfights. Recently, they’ve tried placing Kaizoku in a tank role leaving most of the split pushing to their Argus expert Inuzaki. The main damage dealer was their youngest member, 14-year old Gelido who played assassins. Yasu and their sixth man, Kenzu would usually play secondary tanks that focused on protecting rather than engaging. Shingkalafu, their team captain would usually fill-in for whatever was missing from their team having the most versatile champion pool based on his showings in the competition.

Despite being currently in the last place according to the standings in the regular season, they’re still one of the teams that most people talk about because of how young and unique their playstyle is. This youthful playstyle may stem from the fact that they just formed their team last March by accident by constantly playing in rank games together.

We see that the White Rascals are currently having some trouble finding their stride after their main split pushing strat have been analyzed and countered by most of the remaining teams in the finals, which is why they’re taking a leap of faith by trying to find a new strat that could suit them this late into the game. We still see a lot of miscommunication and indecisiveness happening during games, which is common for new budding teams but that’s exactly what makes the White Rascals exciting to watch.

Compared to other teams, everything you see them do seems so new despite them doing the exact same strategy for most of the regular season. This is because they are essentially “winging it” every game because of how many uncontrolled factors there are when they are playing. The only constant the split push playstyle has is the split pusher but that essentially leaves the the White Rascals team to handle a 4v5, which is a whole new dynamic most of their opponents have to learn to cope with. It’s this uncertainty in the White Rascal’s playstyle that really sets them apart from everyone else. Hopefully, we’ll see more exciting things from them in the finals.

Which PH Mobile Legends team will be crowned king?

A total of eight teams are remaining after the action-filled regular season of the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines. The country’s best ML teams are now headed to a grand two-day event at the Music Hall, SM Mall of Asia, for the MPL Philippines Grand Finals. Only one team will take home the lion’s share of the USD 50,000 + USD 14,168 grand cash prize and the first MPL Philippines crown.

Moonton, the creators and developers of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, is committed to enriching the existing vibrant esports scene in the Philippines. MPL Philippines is the latest national tournament in the Mobile Legends Professional League series. The MPL has already crowned national champions for Indonesia and Malaysia & Singapore in the past.

MET, the top esports event organizer in the Philippines, will be producing the grand finals event at the Music Hall in Mall of Asia. The Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines is only MET’s latest foray in competitive mobile esports and they promise to bring the same level of quality as any of their numerous successful events in the past.

Participating ML Teams

• Aether Main
• Aether Valkyrie
• DigitalDevils Demon Kings
• DigitalDevils No Limit
• DigitalDevils Pro Gaming
• Invictus Godz
• Obsidian Gaming
• White Rascals

Tournament Schedule

• June 30, 2018 – July 1, 2018
• Gates Open at 10:30AM on Both Days

Tournament Venue

• Music Hall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay, Philippines

The team which secures victory in the best-of-three grand finals series will be taking home the lion’s share of the USD 50,000 + USD 14,168 grand cash prize as well as the honor of being crowned the first national champions of Mobile Legends. Hundreds of hopeful teams took their chance at becoming legends and now only eight teams remain in the running to claim the highest honor in competitive Mobile Legends. Which team will rise and become legends?

The Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines Grand Finals will take place on June 30, 2018 – July 1, 2018 at the Music Hall in SM Mall of Asia, Philippines. Entrance is absolutely free and fans and players are invited to join in what promises to be an exciting weekend for mobile esports

Leave it to the pros to make these unusual picks work

One of the most exciting parts of watching pro games is finding out what off meta strategies and hidden OP heroes the pro players may have discovered. Seeing as these players are always at the forefront of what’s coming into the meta, they are definitely in the position to be the first to introduce these things. So before you ridicule or flame your teammate in ranked, maybe you should review these unusual picks that the pros brought out this regular season.

Aurora – AE Ribo, OG Pakbet

Most mages that aren’t Harley have been regulated to roles that concentrate more on supporting than dealing damage. This is why Kagura is such a great pick when you want to pierce the enemy backline and control a teamfight. Aurora does the same but her skills require an effective engage in order to be fully effective, which is why we don’t see her that often except when being paired with tanks like Lolita who can lock down an entire enemy team or even with another mage like Kagura.

Weird as it may sound, Aurora and Kagura actually make old school double mage, double tank combos possible. One of the main reasons pros even choose Aurora is the fact that she can function effectively even without buffs because her mana costs are quite low and her skills are pretty low cooldown.

Zilong – AE Coco

Zilong is one of the OG heroes in MLBB. He was a really powerful all-around hero that could solo carry matches thanks to his dueling and pushing potential, which made him a great split pusher. But with all of the new heroes being developed with multiple dashes, it was inevitable for Zilong to be made obsolete because of his one-dimensional kit. That said, in the right team composition and situation, he can still be a very effective hero.

AE Coco showed this off in one of Aether Main’s games against Invictus Godz. IG picked Diggie to counter AE’s Akai but AE used Zilong, Karina, and Harley to simply overwhelm them with damage. Zilong also provided a bit of undeniable CC with his toss to use in quick skirmishes that didn’t involve Diggie. Zilong also counters Fanny’s hook because his skill displaces the enemy rather than just immobalizing them. AE Coco, had considerably more gold and impact in that game than any other player just because of the threat and pressure he was putting on the enemy team by taking towers and dueling his opponents 2v1.

Karina – AE Ribo

In the same game against the Invictus Godz, AE Ribo brought out the assassin, Karina. Despite not being as old of a hero as Zilong, Karina also suffers the same effect of being outdated compared to other core assassins like Lancelot and Guison. But Karina still does have the advantage when it comes to dealing damage to single targets, especially when she gets resets on her third skill.

You have to have real confidence in yourself and in your team when playing Karina because if you don’t get fed, you’ll be useless for the entire game because damage is the only thing you can offer. That’s why AE picked heroes that could support Karina’s snowball like Zilong who has a very deadly level two power spike.

Argus – WRS Inuzaki

Argus brings insane damage to the table at the cost of being heavily proned to kiting by mobile assassins because of the unreliability of his hook being an easy to miss skillshot. WRS Inuzaki uses Argus as a secondary split pusher for the White Rascals when their main split pusher is waiting to respawn or is being chased by the enemy team. Argus relies on his third skill that grants him immortality, which allows him more time to finish off towers and stall his enemies for  longer amount of time.

The White Rascals have developed a very risky type of playstyle, which heavily relies on trust between teammates since they are literally trying to play 90% of the game as a 4v5 while one of them relentlessly split pushes and prays that he can get fed enough to 2v1 and take towers. The Argus pick shines in this team composition because of his stalling mechanics and his DPS. Argus is arguably the most powerful 1v1 hero in the game if there was no kiting involved (but when does that happen, really?). He can make up for the lack of one team member if he goes unchecked in teamfights.

 Why solo plays are more common in high-level matches

At high-level of play, the ability to take advantage of an opponents’ mistakes becomes all the more important because the chances to do so are very limited. This makes gettings “picks” one of the most popular strategies utilized by pro-players. Single-target heroes like Cyclops, Saber, and Jawhead have suddenly become very viable picks because of how effective they are at doing their jobs.

One could argue that single-target champions have a very one dimensional playstyle that makes their movements telegraphed but because of how powerful and easy their abilities are, you don’t really need much in order to have success with the, which brings up a very important aspect of this strategy—consistency.

As much as AOE abilities and wombo combos can turn around games, the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of conditions and coordination that has to happen. That’s why everyone gets so hyped whenever someone does so because it seems to impossibly difficult and lucky for the team to have been able to accomplish such a feat, on the other hand, getting picks by pressing a single button just seems a lot easier to manage especially in fast-paced games such as MLBB.

The popularity of single-target picks also came about because it counters a few other popular strategies in the meta. Split-pushing has always been a popular and powerful strat used by gamers. After all, the idea of farming while your teammates die to the enemy team seems like something that’s  very natural to do. Kidding aside, ensuring that you have a numbers advantage in teamfights will almost always lead to you winning if you decide to engage while an enemy hero is waiting to respawn.

A great example of this strat match-up would be Week 3 OBS Gaming vs White Rascals. The White Rascals almost exclusively use split pushing in all of their games, usually with Kaizoku using Hayabusa or Zilong to be able to have as much pushing and dueling power as possible while still having the ability to escape if needed.

The split push strat relies on how much of the opponent’s time and effort you can waste on yourself so your team can have their way with the rest of the map. The White Rascals have had some success with this strategy because of how fed the split pusher would get if left unchecked. This was why OG used a Saber and  Harley combo to quickly eliminate the Hayabusa to quickly rejoin their team for team fights. The damage and crowd control provided by the two heroes guaranteed that split pushers wouldn’t be able to escape if they over-extended even just a little.

Teams have noticeably become a lot more in-sync as the competition reaches its final stages. It makes us wonder if we’ll see more team oriented plays than single-target ones in the finals. The finals are sure to bring in more than just a few surprises because you can be sure that all the teams are putting everything they’ve been planning up to now.

Why mobile tanks played such a big role in the MPL Regular Season

In most MOBA games, carry roles are the most sought-after picks for players because of how noticeable their impact is on a game (See their either feast or famine scores). The same can be said to some extent in Mobile Legends but in recent weeks, we’ve seen a lot of tank priority-picks when the team is second to pick their roles.

Usually, the pick and ban phase in pro games would follow this sequence: First pick team locks in a core assassin, second pick team then picks two core tanks. In theory, this should keep the power level of both teams fairly even since one team should have more offensive power and the other team should have the tankiness to withstand their attacks. But in reality, getting two combo-oriented tanks like Chou/Lolita and Akai turns the supposedly strong defense a very threatening offense because of the pick potential of these tanks. Compositions like Chou, Akai, and Harley/Saber/Jawhead were made to make the pick potential of a team even deadlier because not only could they keep their opponents locked down, they could also kill them.

AE Yellyhaze had some great plays on Chou but what really made his Chou exceptional was how he zoned out the enemy team from his carries before AE Main would clash with their enemies. Chou’s dashes allowed him to go in and out without much difficulty. This allowed AE Main to engage during opportune moments, which gave them an overwhelming advantage during team fights.

PG Tets should real mastery on Lolita by not only executing her mechanics perfectly, but also being by being able to read the movements of his team. Lolita allows a player to both become an offensive and defensive threat thanks to how her third skill: Noumenon Blast functions when used in conjunction with flicker. Flicker allows Lolita’s kit to be unpredictable. Lolita can also quickly change her playstyle to a defensive one in case the situation calls for it due to her multiple cc and protective shield. This makes Lolita a great hero to pick up because she has no real counters and is flexible enough to pick versus any enemy team.

Though, if we’re talking about flexibility, we think no one can trump the versatility of Jawhead. You can never really tell how a Jawhead will play until mid-game when he gets most of his items. OG Jeffqt4ever uses his jawhead to get picks on enemies who are out of position and toss them back to his team while doing significant damage to them. This mix of tankiness and solo playmaking potential allows Jawhead players to dictate the game, which could either be very effective or very detrimental for your team. Jawhead could also be built full tank to support mages like Cyclops who focus on taking out  a significant threat like Fanny, Guison, Lancelot, and other mobile damage dealers.

Tanks have definitely made their presence felt during the regular season and we expect them to play even more vital roles in the finals due to some core assassins like Martis getting nerfed. Better get to practicing those beefy heroes!

It’s the little things that count

While flashy outplays are always enjoyable to watch (that’s why they become easy targets for clips included in highlight reels), we find it disappointing that micro-plays and shows of game knowledge aren’t that highlighted. Even though the game might favor kill score and participation when choosing the key players of a match, that shouldn’t stop us from being able to appreciate the true MVP’s that give up their nice looking KDA’s for the sake of their team.

OG Pakbet

OBS Gaming is probably one of the most popular teams in this competition because some of their members have built a following through streaming. OG Z4pnu will probably always be the face of whichever team his in because of his exciting and entertaining aggressive playstyle. You always want to keep your eyes on him because you’ll never know what to expect. Another side effect of having a star player on your team makes it so that its a lot easier for other teammates to keep their movements lowkey despite having noticeable talent themselves.

In comes OG Pakbet, the silent killer of OBS Gaming. It’s honestly surprising he doesn’t get a lot more attention from the community despite being a very effective assassin and damage dealer from his team. I’ve seen him do insanely clean plays with his mages, particularly when he is on his Harley. OG Pakbet really shines when he’s left to play his own game because before you know it he’ll be able to cripple your team with his quick solo plays.

PG Tets

Kaisaya, shoutcaster, mythic rank player, and squad member of Digital Devils says that a great tank “knows how to protect his/her carries and really knows how his/her hero well. He/she can change her playstyle depending on the situation.” DD Pro Gaming is a really strong team with members like Yakou who can steal the show with his great mechanics and unorthodox playstyle. While it’s great to have players who can carry your team, most of them need to make high-risk, high-reward plays, which obviously have a lot of drawbacks.

Only in these situations can supports like PG Tets truly shine. PG Tets doesn’t only protect his teammates, he allows them to move as freely as they want because of the quiet pressure he has on the map. His plays on Angela and Lolita really show how much he takes care of his team and how much damage he takes for them. But what truly separates him from other players is that he doesn’t only know his hero but he knows his teammates’ heroes and their playstyles as well. PG Tets isn’t only a great tank, he’s a tank his teammates can actually rely on.

AE Yuji and AE Yellyhaze

AE Main is an all-star team through and through, and that’s why it might seem like a bit of a stretch to call a couple of their members unsung heroes, we feel like the tandem of AE Yuji and AE Yellyhaze needs a lot more love than they’re getting since they are probably the most in-sync players in the whole competition.

Both of these players have extraordinary talent on their own (I’d go even as far as to say that Yellyhaze is probably the most mechanically gifted tank-user in the competition), but together they almost seem impossible to counter. AE Yuji is slippery on his own while using mobile mages like Kagura but with the support of AE Yellyhaze’s Chou, he becomes near untouchable. Their in-and-out tactics are so finely executed that it almost leaves no gaps for their opponents to retaliate. While AE Coco and AE Pein almost always excel late game, AE Yuji and AE Yellyhaze are the ones that carry them there.