Liquid ECHO booked the first ticket to the MLBB: Mid-Season Cup after a pulsating 3-2 victory over defending champion Falcons AP.Bren in the upper bracket finals of the MPL Philippines Season 13 at the Champions’ Arena in SM Southmall on Friday, May 24.

The Cavalry displayed poise under pressure and came back from a huge deficit in the deciding Game 5 to make it back to the grand finals after missing it last season.

Liquid ECHO trailed by as many as 7k in gold in the crucial contest but managed to quickly turn the tables after a huge team fight for the 20th minute Lord.

A perfect initiation from Jaypee “Jaypee” Dela Cruz triggered the massive clash, catching FCAP jungler Kyle “Kyletzy” Sayson’s Nolan on the Divine Judgment ultimate of his roaming Kaja pick.

Liquid ECHO took out Kyletzy’s Nolan in a blink of an eye that even the retaliation from the rest of AP.Bren went futile and absorbed more casualties in the end. 

When the dust settled, it was 3-1 tradeoff, leaving two heroes to defend against Liquid ECHO which was marching down the midlane. Smelling blood in the water, the Cavalry easily shrugged off AP.Bren’s base defense to cap the series-clinching win with a come-from-behind 17-16 win.

Jaypee finished with a 1-3-10 line on the Kaja while Benedict “BennyQt” Gonzales led the way with a 5-1-6 tally on his signature Karrie pick.

The Game 5 win averted what could have been a huge collapse for Team Liquid which failed to close out the series in Game 4 after taking a 2-1 series lead.

Liquid ECHO actually had to overcome a first game hiccup when it got thrashed by APBren with a 12-2 win. The Cavalry responded with a tight 15-13 win in Game 2 and their own lopsided 11-4 win in Game 3 to take the lead.

Refusing to go down without a fight was the defending champions who rode the backs of star gold laner Super Marco and veteran midlaner Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel to drag the series to a decider with a 11-6 Game 4 win.

All is not lost however for FCAP as it has the chance to face TLPH again in the finals if it wins in the lower bracket finals against either Blacklist International or RSG Philippines.