Turkey's Aurora Gaming shocks Onic Philippines in MSC showdown
The Filipinos bounced back from a Game 1 loss with a dominant performance in Game 2, but ultimately fell to the Turkish squad in the clincher, dropping to the lower bracket of Group B and teetering on the brink of elimination.
Aurora, who's being led by Filipino coaches in Aniel "Master The Basics" Jiandani and Dexter "Dexstar" Alaba, secured a spot in the upper bracket semifinals, moving one step closer to a coveted playoff berth.
On the cusp of a sweep loss, Onic turned to Duane "Kelra" Pillas in Game 2 as the prized gold laner unleashed a strong showing on his signature hero Granger, dropping eight kills and five assists to drag Aurora to a decider.
In Game 3, both teams were decisive until the final lord clash came, where Onic's jungler Cyric "K1NGKONG" Perez had a lord steal at the 20:17 mark.
But K1NGKONG was taken down after Aurora's roamer Furkan 'APEX47' Akbulut unloaded a well-timed Avatar of the Guardian that also allowed him to pick off Kelra (Beatrix) for a double kill.
Onic also saw roamer Borrid "Brusko" Parro going down after falling to the Abyssal Trap of Ahmet "Rosa" Batir (Selena), paving the way for Aurora Gaming eventual victory against the reigning world champions.
Onic is now in a must-win situation as it takes on Area 77 of North America where the loser gets booted out while the winner advances to lower bracket semifinals.
Aurora, on the other hand, will look to punch its playoff ticket when it takes on RRQ Hoshi of Indonesia in the upper bracket semis.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
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