Team Liquid PH needed 40 minutes and 7 seconds to end ONIC Philippines' season. Liquid swept the MPL Philippines Season 18 lower bracket semifinal 3–0 on Friday night, and no game went past 15 minutes. The three-time reigning champions now play Aurora Gaming PH on Saturday for the last M8 World Championship place and a shot at a fourth straight title.

There are no post-match interviews yet, so this breakdown sticks to what the drafts show.

The series at a glance

Game Liquid side Battlefield effect (chosen by) Team Liquid PH ONIC Philippines Length
1 Blue Golden Turret (Liquid) Lukas, Nolan, Lylia, Aulus, Atlas Uranus, Hirara, Selena, Bruno, Kalea 15:15
2 Red Healing Turtle (ONIC) Sora, Hirara, Valentina, Aulus, Marcel Hylos, Nolan, Lylia, Cici, Gloo 11:35
3 Blue Flying Cloud (Liquid) Aulus, Suyou, Zhuxin, Harith, Masha Phoveus, Hirara, Kimmy, Cici, Hylos 13:17

Liquid won on both sides of the map, and the average game lasted 13 minutes 22 seconds.

1. Aulus was Liquid's constant

Aulus is the only hero Liquid drafted in all three games. Everything around him changed: three different junglers (Nolan, Hirara, Suyou) and three different mid laners (Lylia, Valentina, Zhuxin). ONIC never spent a ban on him. That is notable because ONIC's own K1NGKONG played Aulus in their play-in win over TNC two days earlier, so they knew exactly what the hero does in this meta.

2. Six bans that never came off

Some heroes were simply not allowed into the series:

  • Esmeralda and Freya were banned in all three games, by one side or the other.
  • Paquito was banned by ONIC every game. They clearly did not want to face him.
  • Fanny went out in both games Liquid played on blue side.
  • Masha was banned in games 1 and 2. In game 3, ONIC used their bans on Paquito, Freya, Atlas, Nolan and Harley, and Liquid took Masha.

The last point is the series in miniature: every ban ONIC spent reacting to what had already beaten them left another strong pick open.

3. Respect bans, one game too late

Both teams banned what hurt them in the previous game, but Liquid kept finding answers:

  • ONIC banned Atlas and Lukas in game 2 after Liquid won game 1 with both. Liquid drafted around them with Sora and Marcel and won faster.
  • ONIC banned Atlas again in game 3 and added Nolan, the jungler Liquid had used in game 1 and ONIC themselves played in game 2.
  • Liquid banned Kalea in games 2 and 3 after ONIC drafted her in game 1, and banned Marcel in game 3 after playing him themselves in game 2.

4. Hirara is the hero of these playoffs

Hirara was picked in all three games: by ONIC in games 1 and 3, and by Liquid in game 2, the shortest game of the series. She was also the story of ONIC's loss to Team Falcons PH a day earlier, when KyleTzy went 6/0/6 and 7/0/8 on her in the first two games. Expect her to be first-phase priority again on Saturday.

5. The battlefield picks

Since Moonton's September map update, each game is played with one battlefield effect, picked by one of the teams:

  • Golden Turret (game 1, chosen by Liquid): destroying turrets gives much more team gold.
  • Healing Turtle (game 2, chosen by ONIC): killing the Turtle spawns allied turtles that push a lane and heal nearby heroes.
  • Flying Cloud (game 3, chosen by Liquid): platforms near base let respawning heroes hover back to high ground quickly.

ONIC's one choice produced the shortest game of the series, an 11:35 loss.

What it means

ONIC's season ends in the lower bracket semifinal, their fourth straight top-four finish in MPL PH, but without an M8 place. They opened the season 4–0 and survived a five-game play-in against TNC; Falcons and then Liquid did not let them into a single game.

For Liquid, the sweep is the right response to the 1–3 upper bracket loss to Aurora on 22 October, where Aurora won the long games: a 20-minute Lord fight in game 2 and a 21-minute siege to close game 4. Against ONIC, Liquid never let a game get that long.

What's next

All times are Philippine Time (PHT).

Date Time Match Format
Sat, 24 Oct 17:00 Lower bracket final: Aurora Gaming PH vs Team Liquid PH Bo7
Sun, 25 Oct 17:00 Grand final: Team Falcons PH vs lower bracket winner Bo7

Aurora have beaten Liquid twice this season, 2–0 in week 5 and 3–1 two days ago. The winner joins Team Falcons PH at M8 and plays them for the title on Sunday. Plan your draft for the weekend with our draft simulator and counter picker.

Sources: picks, bans, sides, lengths and battlefield effects from the Liquipedia MPL Philippines Season 18 playoffs page (CC BY-SA 3.0); battlefield effects from Mobile Legends: Bang Bang; earlier playoff results from GMA News, GMA News and All-Star Magazine.