Photo from MPL Philippines
PASAY, Philippines — Forged in flames, the army ascended like a phoenix.
TNC Pro Team reignited their playoff run after surviving Twisted Minds in a heated five-game thriller, 3–2, to close the opening day of the MPL Philippines Season 16 Playoffs in Cuneta Astrodome, Friday night.
The orange squad controlled the tempo as Joshua “Ch4kNu” Mangilog’s early assault overwhelmed Twisted Minds on Dangerous Grass, with stellar crowd control and rotations securing TNC’s clean finish and MVP honors in the first game.
However, Twisted Minds struck back in Game 2 on the same map as Michael “MPtheKing” Endino redeemed himself from a rusty Leomord showcase earlier with a 5/1/7 Lancelot masterclass, steering his team to a 20:51 victory and even the series.
“Yung Leomord kasi talaga na ‘yon, nai-spam namin sa scrim, naging successful against Lancelot. ‘Yung downside lang ng Leomord is early hero siya, pag nagkamali ka, tuloy-tuloy na,” MPtheKing explained.
TNC regained control on Broken Walls as Frederic “Bennyqt” Gonzales’ Obsidia (10/0/3) erased all doubts, tearing through the foes in a 20–7 rout that placed Phoenix to match point at the expense of Twisted Minds.
But the chaos did not end there.
Twisted Minds retaliated in Game 4 on Flying Clouds, winning 30–19 in 19:29 as MPtheKing’s Hayabusa (14/4/8) controlled the map by taking early objectives alongside Nosia’s goldlane Lapu-Lapu.
From hereon, the Phoenix Army fully took flight.
With elimination looming, Mark “Zaida” Palma awakened his signature Fanny (8/0/0) in Game 5, slicing through Twisted Minds with excellent pick-offs as TNC torched their foes in just 15 minutes, to seal the series with a 11-4 rout.
Ultimately, The Minds’ reliance on unconventional drafts throughout the match fell apart in the decider.
MPtheKing's Hayabusa, who went 0-3 on a "questionable" Sky Piercer build, attributed their struggle in prolonged games as a thorn in keeping up with TNC's relentless tempo.
“Wala, nice try lang talaga. Kasi katulad sa sinabi ni Coach Bon, ‘yung mental fortitude talaga. Lalo na hindi [kami] sanay sa prolonged series,” said The Mind’s jungler.
TNC eyes to snap the top-seeded Aurora Gaming’s 13-match win streak in the Day 2 of the playoffs.
