MPL PH: Aurora Gaming shuts door on Team Liquid's four-peat dream

Aurora Gaming lived to fight another day, surviving a marathon best-of-seven series against defending champion Team Liquid, 3-2, in the MPL Philippines Season 18 lower bracket finals on Saturday at the PhilSports Arena.

Aurora not only arranged a grand finals showdown with Team Falcons, but it also booked a ticket to Istanbul, Turkey, which will host the M8 World Championship, in a bid to defend its world title.

Aurora looks to pull off the same winning formula come Sunday, where the club guns to capture its first-ever MPL title after two bridesmaid finishes in the past.

"I think ito na 'yung proof na hindi talagang madaling magsimula sa baba kapag bagong team kayo. Kailangan lang talaga na magtiwala lahat, from management, to players, to coaches, to fans," Aurora head coach Aniel "Master The Basics" Jiandani said.

"Kailangan talaga ng proseso. Ito 'yung proof na 'yung proseso kapag sinunod namin, magagawa namin kahit ano."

(I think this is proof that it's not easy, starting from the bottom when you're a new team. Everyone needs to believe, from management, to players, to coaches, to fans... It's a process. This is the proof that the process, if we follow it, we can achieve anything.)

Aurora fell to Team Liquid's trap early on with gold laner Dave "Teddy" Viaña shining in Games 1 and 3 to with his Harith and Freya, respectively, to help the defending champions clinch a crucial 2-1 lead.

But roamer Dylan "Light" Catipon (Kalea) and exp laner Nathanael "Nathzz" Estrologo (Barats) led the charge in the next two games, including a one-sided Game 5 that saw Aurora build a 15k gold lead to finish off the game in within 16 minutes.

But Team Liquid braved through and retaliated in Game 6 behind its own lopsided showing with midlaner Alston "Sanji" Pabico (Zhuxin) and Teddy (Harith) conniving to drag Aurora to a decider.

With momentum clearly on their side, the Cavalry punished Aurora early on in the final game with an 8-3 kill spread and a 2.3k gold lead in the first 12 minutes. But a crucial steal from jungler Kyle "Koyl" Reyes in the second Lord dance---followed by a wipeout---set the stage for Aurora's conquer to end Team Liquid's three-season reign.

By winning, Aurora also became the first team since 2023 to return to the world stage for a shot to defend its title. Blacklist International was the last team to do so, ruling M3 and finishing second in M4.

—JMB, GMA News