The MPL PH Season 2 Grand Finals is Heating Up

There Can be Only One MPL PH Season 2 Champion

The weeks-long group stage of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines Season 2 led up to this moment in time where eight of the Philippines’ strongest ML:BB teams will clash in a true tournament of legends. The stage is set at the Ayala Malls Circuit Makati Activity Center, and only one team is leaving this weekend as the latest MPL PH Season 2 grand champions.

The Strength of BREN

The first day of the MPL PH Season 2 grand finals kicked off without pulling any punches by pitting the two arguably strongest teams in the country against each other in the opening series of the event. BREN Esports and Execration have a long history that has spanned from the league’s inaugural season and has persisted even through the rebranding of both teams.

This matchup could very well be the simulation of the grand finals series as its not unlikely to believe that there’s a strong chance these two teams will meet each other again regardless of the first upper bracket match.

Having said that, both competitors came into the series with guns blazing. Execration came out swinging wildly as they secured the advantage early on in game one, but BREN’s particular brand of unparalleled team fight prowess shone more in the latter half of the match, securing the victory from the defending champions.

Execration quickly bounced back in the second game of the series. Not being a team to quit, XCTN put the pressure on BREN behind their rampaging carries. The second game was a complete shutout, doing a complete disservice of the true potential of BREN Esports. Execration’s efforts in the second game have kept their upper bracket hopes alive, for now.

BREN returned in the third and final game ready to show their opponents and all viewers just why they’re the team to beat in this country. The reigning champions showed off their superb team fighting that capitalized on their composition, helping them demolish Execration to close out the series with a narrow 2-1 victory.

Sending Cignals Your Way

The second match of the day featured the returning banner of season 1’s grand champions, Aether Main, going up against one of the league’s best new teams, Cignal Ultra. The games kick off full off action but the first game unfortunately falls into a stalemate that lasts close to 30 minutes. Each team’s attempt to break the equilibrium only serve to cede control of the game to their opponent with each chaotic team fight. Cignal Ultra come out on top, however, after powering their way through the Aether base.

The second game follows in a different pattern as the first game as Cignal Ultra works on optimizing their game plans against their opponents. The second game is more one-sided than their opener, leading to a dominant 2-0 clean out by Cignal Ultra.

With Finesse and Grace

The third match of the day featured a matchup between ArkAngel Ownage and Finesse Solid. The series was fraught with high paced ML:BB action befitting of the biggest national Mobile Legends: Bang Bang league in the Philippines.

Finesse Solid opened up the series with a fantastic game to quickly put their match at a 1-0 advantage. The second game was more sloppy for both competitors as both teams failed to break equilibrium in a tight match where one mistake could prove to be fatal for either side. ArkAngel Ownage came out on top after almost forcing their way through to the enemy base, equalizing the series at a clean 1-1.

ArkAngel Ownage may have delayed the end of the series by pushing a decider but Finesse were not about to leave things to fate as they flex some series ML:BB skills. FNs find themselves knocking on the ArkAngel Ownage base not 10 minutes into the game, heralding a one-sided game to decide the match. Finesse Solid come out with a very convincing 2-1 victory to close out their series.

No Rest for the Wicked

ArkAngel Ownage’s sister team, ArkAngel Wicked Minds, takes the stage in the next series of the day as they go up against SxC Imbalance. ArkAngel.WM learns from their sister team as they pull out an amazing first game to secure the advantage in the series. SxC is completely demolished in game 1 due to Wicked Minds’ amazing team fighting, pushing the series in a swift 1-0 standing.

SxC looked to tilt the match in their favor as they came out roaring in the second game. They secured an early game advantage and used it to snowball their opponent into matchpoint. The second game capped off with a landslide 19-5 score in favor of SxC Imbalance at only 13 minutes of play.

The third game of their series was nothing short of a thing of beauty. SxC rolled out a Grock Akai double tank initiation combo composition that served as the crux of their strategy for the deciding game. ArkAngel Wicked Minds was completely outplayed in the all-important elimination game, leading to a convincing game reverse sweep win for SxC Imbalance.

Aether Main Returns

Aether Main took to the stage once more in an elimination lower bracket match against a rampaging Finesse Solid, a team that just put on a fantastic show for all MPL fans. Finesse Solid went to work quickly in the series pummeling Aether Main into a daunting 1-15 deficit at only 10 minutes into the first game of their series. The situation looked dire for the Aether Main side for the entirety of the landslide game.  Aether could only watch in horror as they fell to Finesse Solid in a one-sided affair to open up their elimination series.

The second game of the series went it the same way of the first game. Finesse Solid are proving that they deserve a spot in the playoffs as they make quick work of Aether Main for a second consecutive game. Finesse Solid keep their MPL PH Season 2 dreams alive with a beautiful 2-0 win over Aether Main.

Finding Balance in Imbalance

The first day of the MPL PH Season 2 Grand Finals won’t wrap up with merely 5  matchups, the last matchup of the day featured a best-of-three lower bracket elimination match between Execration and SxC Imbalance. There’s only remaining slot in the tournament’s top 4 squads.

Execration found themselves in this matchup after losing their series against BREN Esports in the opening series of day 1. The final match of the grand finals’ first day proved to be one of the most exciting matchups so far. Both Execration and SxC Imbalance traded off kills in an amazing back-and-forth game. It all came to a head when SxC turned the tide of the game with a decisive team fight win right at the heart of the Execration base, forcing the series into a 1-0 lead for SxC Imbalance.

The second game of the series was more of an imbalanced affair. Execration were ultimately unable to curb the rampaging SxC Imbalance as they fall to a 0-2 deficit. The entire series hinged on one final team fight in the Execration base where SxC clinched a five-for-one exchange that wiped out Execration and opened up their base for a demolition crew. The league’s second ranked team has been officially eliminated. SxC Imbalance will move on in the playoffs final four!

Day 1 concludes with only four teams remaining in the running for the MPL PH Season 2 championship. The action resumes tomorrow where one team will be crowned at the top of Filipino Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.