Laus Playbook Esports banked on the classic Bruno-Rafaela duo to thrash Nexplay Esports in the deciding Game 3 and take a 2-1 victory in its MPL Philippines Season 7 debut on Saturday, March 20.
Joshua "Aspect" Tating's Bruno went ham in the late game while Ian "Beemo" Sergio's Rafaela provided him the sustain and movement speed in team fights and sieging NXP's towers.
Aspect shredded through NXP for a maniac kill streak before closing out the 23-6 rout with the Enhanced Lord in 17 minutes.
Aspect posted 10 kills, most of them coming down the stretch, to go with two assists against a lone death while Beemo went flawless with 14 assists without kills and deaths.
Nowee "Ryota" Macasa's Lapu-Lapu served as LPE's main man in the early to mid game as he finished with a 5-0-8 kill-death-assist record even as Arvin "Arvs" Bacayan's Silvanna and Jay "JAKE THE DOG" Lapitan's Claude combined for eight kills and 17 assists.
SEA Games gold-winning coach Brian "Panda" Lim's LPE showed a brilliant team work despite having some of his players on isolation in accordance with MPL's health and safety protocols
LPE grabbed two points while NXP settled for a lone marker in Group B.
Naser "Dogie" Mollazehi's Nexplay actually opened the series in a dominant fashion as Renejay "RENEJAY" Barcarse's Wanwan wreaked havoc in Game 1.
NXP displayed its vast improvement from the previous season as it showed disciplined, calculated plays with Renejay's Wanwan leading the way for a 15-6 triumph in 17 minutes.
However, JAKE THE DOG's Harith and Beemo's Silvanna helped LPE stave off NXP's spirited fight back in Game 2 that ended in a 25-19 decision for Panda's boys in nearly 21 minutes.