Aurora clinch playoff spot as AP.Bren upsets ONIC with sweep

Aurora clinch playoff spot as AP.Bren upsets ONIC with sweep

MAKATI — Aurora Gaming becomes the first team to clinch a playoff berth in MPL Philippines Season 16 after sweeping Team Liquid PH on Monday inside the Green Sun Hotel.

Earlier in the day, AP.Bren pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season with a statement sweep over defending champions ONIC Philippines.

Hive swarms Super Fam

AP.Bren set the tone early with a sub-14-minute dismantling of ONIC in Game 1. James “JamesPangks” Mendoza spearheaded the Hive with a commanding 5/0/5 outing on Yi Sun-shin, while Arvie “Aqua” Calderon’s Zhuxin backed him up with a 3/1/8 statline.

The Super Fam struggled to get going, taking down only a single turret as King Cyric “K1NGKONG” Perez finished without a kill, just two assists, and no major objectives to his name.

The Hive kept their momentum in Game 2, this time closing things out in 15 minutes. Jhon Marl “LordJM” Sebastian’s Uranus soaked up the pressure and earned MVP honors with two kills and 10 assists, while Aqua and Deniel Dennison “xNova” Gomez executed the deadly Zhuxin–Khaleed combo to perfection, combining for six kills and 16 assists.

ONIC’s key players faltered again, with K1NGKONG’s Lancelot going 0 kills and four deaths and Duane “Kelra” Pillas’ Granger unable to match the impact of Jan Carl “Shizou” Valdez’s Zhuxin.

The win keeps AP.Bren (4–6) alive in the playoff hunt as they look ahead to a crucial Week 7 showdown with TNC Pro Team. Meanwhile, ONIC (6–4) will try to bounce back from a disappointing Week 6 when they face Team Falcons PH on Friday.

Aurora guns blazing against TLPH

Aurora wasted no time in their series against Team Liquid PH, storming to a 19–2 victory in just under 11 minutes in Game 1. Dylan “Light” Catipon anchored the Northern Lights’ early dominance with a flawless Grock performance, tallying four kills and 11 assists, while Jan Dominic “Domengkite” del Mundo added five kills of his own.

On the other side, Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno’s Fredrinn struggled heavily, going down six times without securing a single major objective or kill.

Game 2 was no different as Aurora closed the series with another convincing win, this time in 12 minutes. Edward Jay “Edward” Dapadap’s Arlott shined with three kills and 11 assists, while Domengkite’s Granger capped off the sweep with a 7/1/3 statline.

Team Liquid’s core faltered again, with KarlTzy finishing 1/5/2 on Fredrinn and Kiel “Oheb” Soriano’s Moskov limited to just one kill involvement all game.

Now at 9–1, Aurora are guaranteed a playoff seat and will chase an upper bracket spot when they meet Twisted Minds on Friday. Team Liquid PH (7–4), meanwhile, will aim to lock in their own berth when they face Smart Omega in their lone Week 7 matchup.

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Drew Malihan

Drew sucks at FPS games but loves watching PUBG and VALORANT. He found his way into esports through MLBB and HOK, and will die on the hill that Football Manager and even Excel deserve to be esports titles—despite not being good at any of them.

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