It is the clash between the top two teams in the MPL; BREN would be considered as the underdog of this series, as they go on head-to-head against the world champions, ECHO. As they share the first seed on the leaderboard, who will truly be the one on top? 

With Fredrinn being open and BREN being on the blue side, it was immediately picked by the Hive, but ECHO responded with a priority Pharsa and Lapu-Lapu. BREN planned to go with extended teamfights by drafting Claude and Faramis, meanwhile ECHO immediately picked the famous Lancelot to secure in the first phase. Lolita was drafted by ECHO, as BREN threw a curveball by flexing the Fredrinn onto the EXP Lane as they secured the Hayabusa as their jungler. 

BREN stole the first Turtle from ECHO’s grasp thanks to FlapTzy, however ECHO managed to trade by punishing him. BREN’s gameplay in the early game was all about delaying the minions, however it was not as impactful. The same scenario quite happened during the second Turtle take, as BREN stole the turtle once again despite ECHO having the positioning advantage. BREN’s lead started to show by the time the third Turtle spawned; KyleTzy picked off Sanji, and Super Marco found KarlTzy which gave them space to slay the Turtle. ECHO, however, secured the first Lord, but it was useless due to the dominance of BREN, wiping the Orcas out afterwards. 12 minutes into the game, BREN led in terms of gold by almost 7,000, and this lead was amplified as the Hive secured the next Lord. Although being on their back foot, ECHO still managed to sustain themselves from the aggression of BREN with their counter plays. ECHO managed to find a position as the first evolved Lord spawned. However, BREN’s sheer mechanics and gameplay allowed them to outclass ECHO in that Lord fight, resulting in the Hive securing the Lord and eventually securing the first game overall, 1-0.

ECHO now sat on the blue side, however BREN made sure to ban the Fredrinn for the second game. With this, ECHO opened up their draft with Valentina as their first pick. With the Chou being up for grabs, ECHO automatically snatched this for Yawi to use. BREN still drafted Claude and Faramis for their side, accompanied by the Akai jungle, as assassins were banned out during the second phase. In response, it was ECHO who threw the curveball this time, flexing the Valentina onto the jungle and drafting the Pharsa. 

The first clash occurred during the first Turtle take, with ECHO securing it in exchange for Yawi. With the help of Yawi’s Chou, ECHO was able to instill pressure onto their opponent. Nevertheless, BREN managed to find trades from pickoffs. All Turtles were secured by ECHO, which were followed by explosive pickoffs. Eventually, the Orcas won the first Lord, stretching their lead against the Hive in terms of gold, turrets, and map pressure. ECHO almost attempted to make another signature backdoor play, but BREN was able to prevent this from happening. It seemed like BREN were having difficulties in clashing against ECHO; although BREN secured the final Lord, ECHO retaliated back with an exquisite teamfight, almost resulting in a wipeout. With this, the Orcas answered back in the series, winning the second game, 1-1.

A switch of sides happened once again, with BREN on the blue side and prioritizing Fredrinn this time around. However, ECHO responded with an open Joy and Chou pick, accompanied by the Valentina. BREN possessed promising control with Kaja and Arlott on their side, and eventually picking Julian as well. ECHO seemed very tanky, as KarlTzy drafted the Barats, resulting in a formidable front line for the Orcas.

With the help of Yawi and Sanji’s control, ECHO secured the first Turtle, followed by a heated skirmish between the two teams. Later on, BREN grabbed the  next Turtle, and this sparked a small lead for the Hive. BREN was leading in terms of kills and gold by the 7th minute, as this was thanks to their powerful pickoff potential, singling out members from the side of ECHO. Eventually, BREN managed to secure the Lord care of Super Marco despite KyleTzy being focused on. ECHO needed to sustain BREN’s pickoff attempts and counteract accordingly in order to flip the game around in their favor. BREN easily took down the second Lord, and made the base of ECHO exposed, however ECHO was commendable for managing to fend off the Hive. BREN showed their immense mastery and chemistry led by captain Pheww, as they outplayed the Orcas by the Lord area, resulting in a partial wipeout, enough for the Hive to decide the game and take the top spot.

DRAFT:

Game 1:


Game 2:


Game 3:

POST MATCH STATS:

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Game 2:

Game 3:

MVPs: