Fourth seeded Aurora Gaming pulled off a massive 3-1 upset against top-ranked Team Liquid on October 22, advancing to the upper bracket finals of the MPL Philippines Season 18 Playoffs.
Fresh off an intense five-game showdown against Omega Esports, Aurora kept their foot on the gas, taking down the defending MPL PH Champions and moving just one win away from defending their crown in the upcoming M8 World Championship.
Team Liquid Strikes First but Aurora Storms Back
Team Liquid made the opening statement in Game 1, racing to a 4-0 kill lead in the first five minutes, led by Sanji. But Aurora Gaming completely flipped the script after that, unleashing a commanding 7-2 run to level the game entering the 10-minute mark. Team Liquid, however, stopped their momentum, with a crucial double kill at the 14-minute mark to take control of the game once again. This time, TLPH never let up, steadily expanding their lead and eventually securing the Game 1 win. KarlTzy‘s Nolan provided the firepower for Liquid, finishing with a stellar 5-1-5 KDA.
Repeating their Game 1 start, Team Liquid struck first in Game 2 behind KarlTzy’s three early kills. TLPH delivered an even bigger blow during the second Turtle fight, securing the objective and three extra kills to jump out to a dominant 7-1 kill score within five minutes. RORA, however, found their breakthrough with a shutdown on Karl and a quick double kill. Step by step, they reclaimed the advantage, pulled off the comeback, and leveled the series at 1-1. Though he struggled in the opening minutes, Domeng came alive when it mattered, posting a 4-2-9 stat line on Esmeralda.
Building on that momentum, Aurora Gaming established early control in Game 3, with Koyl and Yue leading the charge. RORA stayed in attack mode, with Koyl scoring a huge triple kill to push their lead to 7-1. By the 11-minute mark, Aurora’s firepower was overwhelming, giving them full map control and a massive 9,000-gold advantage. The final blow came shortly thereafter when Yue swiftly eliminated KarlTzy during their base siege, sparking a full five-man wipeout for RORA.
Aurora Gaming Finishes With a Flourish
Unlike the first three games, the early minutes of Game 4 were tightly contested. But Aurora Gaming broke the stalemate during the first Turtle fight, taking down three members of the Cavalry. While the Northern Lights held a clear upper hand early on, Team Liquid fought back strong in the first Lord contest to stay in the game. Rookie Teddy then stepped up in a big way in the mid game, securing crucial pickoffs to put his team in front. For the next few minutes, TLPH seemed well in command, with Teddy looking unstoppable on Aulus. But the tides shifted dramatically at the third Lord fight.
Though Jaypee caught Aurora from behind with a flank, TLPH failed to follow up—leading to a total disaster. Aurora took full advantage of the misplay, taking down four Liquid players while securing the Lord. RORA then marched down the lanes to breach Team Liquid’s base. Although TLPH held off the initial attack, Koyl found a crucial opening, instantly diving onto Sanji for the kill and enabling Aurora to shut the door and claim the 3-1 series win.
The victory propels Aurora Gaming into the upper bracket finals for a showdown against Team Falcons PH, who enter on the heels of a 3-0 sweep of ONIC. The Falcons held the upper hand during the regular season, winning both of their matches and becoming the only team that Aurora failed to defeat.
Meanwhile, Team Liquid fell to the lower bracket to battle ONIC. History favors the Cavalry in this elimination match, as ONIC failed to take a single game off them during their two regular-season meetings.
