Reigning champion Bren Epro fired off its title defense with a 2-0 sweep of Happy Feet Emperors in The Nationals Season 2 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang conference on Saturday.
Bren went on a slow start in Game 1 but a clutch play by veteran sidelaner Mico "Coco" Sampang on his X.Borg propelled the black and yellow squad to a hard-earned victory.
With the Season 1 Finale champion team trailing 10-16 and almost 8k gold behind, Coco secured the Lord kill despite the contest of Happy Feet's Ling in the 28th minute en route to the win.
Game 1 also witnessed the debut of the league's lone female player in Colleen "Kolin" Cruz who used Pharsa.
It was hyper-carry Karl Gabriel "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno's turn to take the spotlight on his famous Ling in Game 2.
The MPL-Philippines Season 6 MVP was all over the map to rack up seven kills and eight assists against a lone death to fuel Bren's 20-9 stomp in just 13 minutes.
With the series triumph, the defending MPL-PH titlist nabbed three points to start its campaign.
Happy Feet, composed of Youtube sensation Cong TV's Team Payaman, suffered a losing debut in the franchise-based league.
Bren seeks a second straight win against STI eOlympians after last season's two-time champion and MPL runner-up Smart Omega takes on Cignal Ultra Warriors in the opening series on Sunday.
Matches start at 4 p.m. with livestream available on The Nationals' Facebook page