Bren Esports needed a clutch retribution in the final Lord fight to shake off the gritty El Ganador Esports, 2-1, in their best-of-three lower bracket match in the 2022 Sibol National Team Selection on Friday, Jan. 28.
With both teams engaging in a nip-and-tuck affair in the pressure-filled Game 3, Kenneth “Saxajago” Fedelin unleashed a perfectly timed retribution during the Lord dance at the 21-minute mark of the match.
That proved to be the deciding factor in the game as Bren scored four kills in the following sequences to close out the series 12-11.
Saxajago, who earlier lost his retribution battle against ELG’s Brisk in the first Lord fight, redeemed himself by securing the final two Lords in Game 3 – the first one allowed Bren to recover from a 4k deficit.
El Ganador, an amateur team which reached Phase 2 through the open qualifier, made a huge statement in the match after standing its ground against the MPL team.
The squad even drew the series’ first blood behind its late game composition anchored on their double-marksman lineup of Roger and Claude.
El Ganador endured a blistering start from Bren before it secured the Lord at the nine-minute mark to recover from the early deficit. That opening was what El Ganador needed to seize control of the match as its two marksmen reached their power spikes and took over in the late game.
Brisk, after a slow start, still finished with a 4-1-4 KDA on the Roger while Joseph took the MVP honors with a 3-1-4 showing on the Claude in El Ganador’s 12-12 Game 1 win.
Bren made sure to not repeat the same mistakes in the opening game as it scored a wire-to-wire 19-6 win in Game 2 to tie the series.
Just like in the opener, Bren seized control early with Saxajago keeping the pressure on his Paquito to finish with a 7-1-6 KDA. Veteran player Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel on the Pharsa provided the veteran presence while Kevz stepped up to the plate to help Bren close out the game properly.
Kevz exploded with a prefect 8-0-6 KDA while Pheww added a 2-3-7 score line.
Bren will now face fellow MPL PH powerhouse Onic Philippines in the second round of the lower bracket.