M5 World Championship: AP.Bren, Geek Fam advance to upper bracket semis over See You Soon, Burmese Ghouls
With their victories, AP.Bren and Geek Fam ID have guaranteed themselves at least a Top 6 finish and US$40,000 in winnings.
The competition continues to be fierce in the second day of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M5 World Championship Knockout Stage on Sunday (10 December) as two more teams continued to progress through the upper bracket while two others were dropped to the lower bracket.
The Philippines' AP.Bren and Indonesia's Geek Fam ID emerged victorious over Cambodia's See You Soon (SYS) and Myanmar's Burmese Ghouls, respectively, to advance to the upper bracket semifinals. Meanwhile, See You Soon and Burmese Ghouls drop down to the first round of the lower bracket.
Here's how the day two of the M5 World Championship Knockout Stage went down:
AP.Bren 3-1 See You Soon
AP.Bren continued to be the most dominant team in the M5 World Championship. The Filipino powerhouse continued building on their perfect 6-0 run through the Group Stage with a sound 3-1 victory over SYS to open their campaign in the Knockout Stage.
AP.Bren opened the series with a clean 14-minute win in game one before SYS handed them their first loss of the tournament in a 18-minute game two.
However, the Filipino squad were quick to bounce back from dropping their first map by stomping their Cambodian opponents in a 11-minute game three and a 17-minute game four to claim the 3-1 series victory.
AP.Bren's sustained dominance continues to come from excellent performances from every player on the roster, exemplified by three different players claiming game MVP honours across the series. EXP laner David "FlapTzy" Canon took the nod in game one, jungler Michael "KyleTzy" Sayson followed in game three, while Marco "Super Marco" Requitiano shined to close out the series.
Geek Fam ID 3-2 Burmese Ghouls
The results for day two of the Knockout Stage notably mirrored that of day one, where Deus Vult defeated Fire Flux Esports, 3-1, and ONIC Esports outlasted Blacklist International in a 3-2 thriller. With AP.Bren taking the previous series in four games, Geek Fam ID then had to outlast Burmese Ghouls in another five-game slugfest.
Geek Fam kicked off the series by taking a hard-fought 20-minute win in game one. Game two was another drawn-out affair, but this time with Burmese Ghouls tying things up after 23 minutes.
Burmese Ghouls continued their momentum from game two by taking a convincing 18-minute win in game three, giving them a commanding 2-1 series lead. However, Geek Fam showed incredible resilience by forcing the series to a deciding game five in a 22-minute thriller in game four.
With momentum now on their side, Geek Fam went blow-for-blow with Burmese Ghouls early into a bloodbath of a decider and emerged victorious to claim the 3-2 series victory in 13 minutes.
Geek Fam's Filipino players proved instrumental in their hard-fought victory over Burmese Ghouls, with roamer Allen "Baloyskie" Baloy and gold laner Mark "Markyyy" Capacio taking the game MVP honours in games one and four. Not one to be outdone, Indonesian EXP laner Luke "Luke" Valentinus led Geek Fam past the finish line in game five.
With the day's results, AP.Bren and Geek Fam ID have guaranteed themselves at least a Top 6 finish and US$40,000 in winnings. They will face off in the first of two upper bracket semifinals matches on Tuesday (12 December) for a spot in the upper bracket finals.
Meanwhile, See You Soon and Burmese Ghouls drop down to the first round of the lower bracket and will be fighting for their tournament lives on Monday (11 December). The winner will advance to the second round of the lower bracket while the loser will be eliminated in 7th-8th place and with US$30,000 in consolation.
The M5 World Championship Knockout Stage will follow a double elimination format with all matches being a best-of-five except for the Grand Finals, which will be a full best-of-seven series.
The Knockout Stage will be held in two phases. The first phase will be held in the EMV Convention Center from 9 to 12 December and includes the upper bracket quarterfinals (9 to 10 December), the first round of the lower bracket (11 December), and the upper bracket semifinals (12 December).
The second phase of the Knockout Stage will be held in the Rizal Memorial Coliseum from 15 to 17 December. It will include the lower bracket quarterfinals (15 December), the lower bracket semifinals and upper bracket finals (16 December), as well as the lower bracket finals and Grand Finals (17 December).
For everything you need to know about the M5 World Championship, check here.
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