The defending champions, Team Liquid Philippines, hit an immediate wall in their EWC MSC campaign, suffering a devastating opening-match defeat against Aurora Gaming Turkiye on July 23.
The Cavalry now find themselves fighting for survival much earlier than expected after dropping to the Group B lower bracket quarterfinals. One more loss will eliminate them from the tournament.
Aurora Stuns Team Liquid PH
While Aurora has long been considered one of MLBB’s top dark horses, their strategic evolution under new head coach Neil “Midnight” De Guzman looks more lethal than ever. In a statement victory, Aurora thoroughly dismantled Team Liquid in a clean 2-0 sweep.
Coach Midnight and Aurora caught Team Liquid PH completely off guard in Game 1 by drafting a high-sustain composition built around Ahmet “Rosa” Taha Batır’s mid-lane Rafaela.
By shifting Rafaela into the midlane instead of her traditional roam role and pairing her with tanky front lines, Aurora set themselves up to dictate team fights right from the opening minutes.
The lineup worked to perfection. Aurora seized the upper hand early, took complete control of the map, and repeatedly punished TLPH. The Filipinos never found an answer, eventually falling in a crushing 18-1 defeat that ended in under 10 minutes. Rosa orchestrated the one-sided domination with a flawless 1/0/16 statline, while Tienzy ran rampant on Hirara, finishing with a stellar 12/1/3 performance.
Aurora delivered yet another draft surprise in Game 2, putting Paquito in the hands of Sigibum in the gold lane. The unconventional setup worked instantly, allowing Sigibum to bully his matchup against TLPH gold laner Teddy. Like in Game 1, Aurora surged ahead early and secured the first two Turtles.
The Cavalry, however, refused to go down without a fight. Around the five-minute mark, TLPH found a solid initiation that allowed Sanford to get a double kill. Shortly after, at the six-minute mark, Sanford struck again. With Aurora’s Exp-laner deep in their jungle, Liquid initially collapsed on him and baited Aurora into a reinforcement attempt. But the Apex Predator was prepared for it, landing a perfect final slash, catching four members, which resulted in a clean three-man takedown for Liquid.
But that was as far as Liquid’s rally went, as Aurora quickly reasserted control for the remainder of the match. Sigibum was simply untouchable on the gold-lane Paquito, spearheading the series-clinching win with a stellar 9/0/6 KDA.
Is Team Liquid in Trouble?
Many things went wrong for Team Liquid in this series. KarlTzy struggled to make a tangible impact in both games, while rookie gold laner Teddy clearly felt the pressure in his international debut. Still, the biggest issue was how TLPH was consistently outclassed in the draft. Clearly, the Filipinos are still trying to figure out the meta, but facing Aurora’s aggressive, strike-first strategy should better equip them going forward. Sanford also remained a bright spot, showing that you can always count on him when the team needs him most.
Regardless, the road will become even tougher from here. Entering not just as the defending champions but as the heavy favorites, TLPH is the team everyone wants to beat—and opponents will come fully prepared. With zero room for error, the Cavalry must iron out their mistakes and reset quickly if they hope to win two consecutive elimination matches and survive to the Knockout Stage.
