Team Falcons Stun Team Liquid in MPL PH S18 Opener

Team Falcons PH stunned defending champions Team Liquid PH with a thrilling 2-1 reverse sweep on the opening day of MPL Philippines Season 18 at Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City.

The Season 17 runners-up finally got their long-awaited revenge against the Cavalry, who defeated Falcons 4-2 in the MPL PH Season 17 Grand Finals last May.

Team Liquid looked dominant in Game 1, overwhelming Team Falcons with a 15-1 kill advantage to secure the opening game in just 11 minutes.

Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno led the Cavalry’s charge on Paquito, finishing with an impressive 6-0-5 KDA as Team Liquid quickly took control of the series.

Game 2, however, told a different story as Team Falcons seized control of the early game and built a lead of nearly 4,000 gold after securing all three Turtle objectives.

Team Liquid PH mounted a valiant fight to keep the game alive, but a Conceal play from Rowgien “Owgwen” Unigo’s Belerick during the 13-minute Lord fight set up Super Marco’s Claude for a game-winning double kill, wiping out the Cavalry.

Super Marco powered the Falcons with a stellar 6-1-7 KDA, forcing the series into a deciding Game 3.

The two teams went toe-to-toe in the early stages of the final game, with their gold economies remaining nearly even past the five-minute mark.

Falcons began to pull away after a favorable 2-for-4 trade during an eight-minute clash in the mid lane. Super Marco’s Brody secured a double kill before Falcons took the Lord uncontested, putting Team Liquid on the back foot.

The Cavalry refused to fold, however, as KarlTzy’s Harley pulled off a crucial steal of the 18-minute Lord, completely shifting the momentum back in Team Liquid’s favor.

But just as the Cavalry appeared poised to complete the comeback, a crucial misplay during their base siege opened the door for Falcons.

Salic “Hadji” Imam’s Valentina executed a brilliant Flicker-Fatal Links combo to catch Teddy’s Clint and KarlTzy’s Harley, leaving Jaypee’s Marcel as the lone defender.

With Team Liquid’s defense broken, Team Falcons seized the opportunity to finish the comeback and complete the reverse sweep over the defending champions.

The victory gives Falcons an early statement win in Season 18 and a measure of revenge for their Grand Finals defeat last season.