MPL PHILIPPINES

Omega eliminates 'bestie' Bren from playoff contention

Omega Esports has one foot into the playoffs after an all-important 2-1 win over Bren Esports in the final week of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 9 on Friday.

Their victory also shattered Bren's final hopes of a return to the playoffs after missing last season's post-season. Omega just needs to avoid getting swept against Blacklist International on Saturday to secure their playoff spot.

The M2 world champions opened the series with urgency, as their early game composition in Game 1 helped secure three turtle buffs, establishing a 5k gold lead and securing the first lord in the 9th minute.

Despite taking three consecutive lords, Bren just couldn't finish off the pesky Omega squad with the latter scoring a much-needed pick off on Angelo Kyle "Pheww" Arcangel (Angela) followed by another pick off on a retreating David Charles "Flap" Canon (Dyrroth) to retake some map control.

Duane "Kelra" Pillas then took over in a pivotal 20th minute lord fight to score a double kill and spearhead a 3-1 trade off that the MLBB Southeast Asian Cup champions used to execute one massive push in the midlane to take the opener.

In Game 2, Bren engaged Omega in a nip-and-tuck affair from the get go with no decisive leads up until the late game.

It looked like Omega's for the taking when Joshua "Ch4knu" Mangilog (Grock) scored a double kill in a 19th minute counter initiation but Bren held on until pick offs on Dean Christian "Raizen" Sumagui (Paquito) and Kelra (Phoveus) in the 21st minute resulted in a luminous lord take for the equalizer.

Omega then had to recover from a 5-1 kill deficit in Game 3 by leaning on Raizen's (Paquito) middle game exploits, who scored a double kill in the 9th minute that secured the first lord.

Kelra (Lunox) then capped the series clincher with a superb "RubyDD" play in the 15th minute, scoring a double kill on the way to leading a 5-1 wipeout. He finished with a stellar 6-3-8 KDA.

—MGP, GMA News