Bren Esports avoided possible elimination and instead pumped some life to its playoff aspirations following its tough 2-1 victory over Blacklist International in the penultimate week of the MPL Philippines Season 9 on Saturday, April 2.
David “Flaptzy” Canon displayed his championship poise and veteran smarts as he came up big in the crucial 16-3 Game 3 win with a 3-1-8 KDA on his Esmeralda pick.
Without his jungler in the final sequences of the match, Flaptzy initiated a clash to pick off Edward “Edward” Dapadap’s Benedetta. That created the space for Bren to secure the 20-minute Lord which proved to be pivotal in the final Lord push with the M2 champions capping the match with a four-man wipe of Blacklist.
Kenneth “Saxa” Fedelin also shone with a 5-2-8 KDA while Vincent “Joyboy” De Guzman had a 1-3-12 showing on the Grock.
With the win, Bren now caught Omega at the seventh spot of the standings with 10 points on 4-8 win-loss record, although the latter still has a game to play later in the day against Nexplay Evos.
Despite the defeat, Blacklist kept its hold of the sixth spot with 12 points on a measly 2-10 standing.
Bren started its do-or-die match on a good note as it took a 21-13 victory in Game 1. Needing to avoid a possible series sweep to keep its tournament hopes alive, Super Marco stepped up to the plate with an impressive 8-4-4 line on the Clint.
He provided the damage during team fights as Saxa and Joyboy provided the sustain and protection for their gold lane carry.
Also in need of points to strengthen its bid for a playoff spot, the defending champion turned it on in the second game as Kiel “Oheb” Soriano on the Popol and Kupa and Kent “Kevier” Lopez on the jungle Masha proved to be the biggest thorn to the side of Bren.
Oheb finished with a 7-3-3 line whle Kevier added a 0-1-10 display in the equalizer.