The race for the MPL Philippines Season 17 crown is beginning to separate contenders from survivors — and after two days of playoff battles, ONIC Philippines and Team Liquid PH are starting to look like the teams to beat.
What began with tense elimination matches on Wednesday quickly shifted into a showcase of dominance on Thursday as both squads marched into the upper bracket finals with convincing sweeps.
But before ONIC PH could even think about facing defending champions Team Liquid PH, the team first had to survive one of the most dramatic series of the playoffs.
Matched against M7 World Champions Aurora Gaming in the opening round, ONIC PH found itself pushed to the limit in a grueling five-game showdown. Aurora, despite entering the playoffs with a shaky 5-9 regular season record, still flashed the brilliance that once made them world champions.
The Northern Lights controlled stretches of the series and nearly completed the upset, but ONIC PH refused to fold under pressure.
In Game 4, ONIC completely flipped the momentum behind a ruthless 14-minute victory powered by Cyric “K1ngkong” Perez. Using Leomord, K1ngkong dominated the jungle matchup and exploded for a 5-1-4 KDA as ONIC rolled to a commanding 10-4 kill advantage to force a deciding Game 5.
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MPL PH
S17 Playoff Day 2
End of Day both the games are a speed run domination the surprising was Falcons defeat no one expected but they will comeback tomorrow
M1 : @ONICPhilippines
– @FalconsEsport
M2 : @teamliquidph
Tomorrow Its UB… https://t.co/unRutp9oSL pic.twitter.com/wdwE4B7fLS
— Kovventh C (@KovventhC) May 28, 2026
Aurora looked poised to survive elimination after controlling much of the early and middle stages of the decider, but ONIC’s patience paid off late. One by one, Aurora’s heroes fell during crucial team fights as ONIC staged a dramatic comeback to complete the reverse momentum swing.
Savero emerged as the closer for ONIC PH, delivering a flawless performance on Karrie with a 6-0-5 KDA to secure the Game 5 MVP honors and eliminate the former world champions from contention.
For Aurora, the loss closed the curtain on a difficult Season 17 campaign. Just months removed from winning the franchise’s first M-Series world title, the team struggled to maintain consistency in what many consider the toughest MPL region in Mobile Legends esports. Aurora only secured a playoff berth during the final week of the regular season before ultimately running out of answers against ONIC’s resilience.
While ONIC survived a war, Smart Omega took a more methodical route to the next round after dispatching Twisted Minds, 3-1.
Twisted Minds stole Game 1 after capitalizing on key pickoffs and numerical advantages against Omega, but the momentum quickly shifted afterward.
Omega tightened its rotations and dominated the next three games behind several standout performances. Minguin orchestrated team fights with a clean 2-0-6 KDA on Yve, Raizen exploded on Leomord with an 8-1-4 performance, while Perkziva anchored the lineup with a flawless 0-0-12 KDA on Khaleed.
By Game 4, Omega had complete control of the series, needing only 14 minutes to close out Twisted Minds and secure a date with defending champions Team Liquid PH.
Thursday, however, proved far more unforgiving.
ONIC PH barely showed signs of fatigue despite coming off a five-game thriller the day before, sweeping Falcons, 3-0, in a one-sided upper bracket semifinal series. K1ngkong once again dictated the pace for ONIC, while Kelra and Super Frince consistently won key fights to deny Falcons any chance of establishing momentum.
The series never truly felt close as ONIC overwhelmed Falcons in objectives, map control, and late-game execution. Falcons struggled to keep up with ONIC’s tempo and were eliminated from upper bracket contention in just three games.
Team Liquid PH delivered an equally commanding statement against Smart Omega. The defending champions looked fully in control from the opening game, dismantling Omega’s setups with disciplined macro play and superior objective control. Team Liquid PH’s chemistry and composure consistently neutralized Omega’s aggressive attempts to create openings, leading to another clean 3-0 sweep.
The victory extended Team Liquid PH’s dominant playoff form and reinforced why the squad remains the favorite to defend its MPL PH crown.
Now, the playoffs narrow even further. On Friday, Falcons and Smart Omega will battle for survival in the lower bracket, while ONIC Philippines and Team Liquid PH collide in a highly anticipated upper bracket finals showdown with a direct grand finals berth on the line.
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