Bren Esports settled for a runner-up finish in the ONE Esports Invitational after absorbing a 3-0 sweep at the hands of Indonesia's Alter Ego in the grand finals on Sunday night.
The MPL-Philippines Season 6 champion Bren could not get its momentum going against the MPL-Indonesia silver finisher Alter Ego which went on a perfect title run in the 20-team regional tournament that boasted a $100,000 (P4.8 million) prize pool.
AE didn't drop a single game starting from the first round, winning all their 11 matches including a vengeful 2-0 victory over Indonesian titlist RRQ Hoshi in the quarterfinals and a 2-0 triumph against fellow Indonesian powerhouse Geek Fam in the semifinals.
With the conclusion of the first-ever MPLI, the two finalists are pegged to be strong title contenders in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship M2 next month in Singapore.
Bren, seeded in the quarterfinals for being one of the four kings in the Southeast Asian region, overcame two-time MPL-PH winner Aura's infamous feeding Diggie strategy to take a 2-1 win in the last eight.
The black and yellow squad once again pulled off a come-from-behind 2-1 victory against Myanmar champ Burmese Ghouls in the final four.
SEA Games gold medalists CJ "Ribo" Ribo, Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel and Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno combined forces to carry Bren past BG and into the best-of-five finals.
However, the three were not able to sustain their brilliant play as Bren, which also has SEA Games winner Allan "Lusty." Castromayor, David "FlapTzy" Canon and sixth man EJ "Ejhay." Sambrano, fell apart against the streaking Alter Ego.