MANILA, Philippines – Fan favorites Echo and Nexplay EVOS suffered early exits as the playoffs of the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 9 rolled out on Thursday, April 28.

Once considered the heavy title favorite following the addition of stars Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno and Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera, third seed Echo absorbed a stunning 0-3 loss at the hands of sixth seed Omega Esports.

Omega never won a single game against Echo in the regular season but pulled off the improbable with a sweep highlighted by a rousing come-from-behind win in Game 3.

Veterans Renz “Renzio” Cadua and Joshua “Ch4knu” Mangilog showed the way as Omega advanced to the semifinals and guaranteed itself of a top-four finish.

Season 8 finalist Onic Philippines also booked its semifinals berth with a gritty 3-2 victory over Nexplay in their best-of-five quarterfinals joust.

Narrowly catching the playoff bus as the No. 5 seed, Nexplay forced a decider but saw its bid of achieving another top-four finish crushed as Onic clinched Game 5 in an arduous series that ended past 1 am on Friday.

Omega and Onic, though, were immediately sent crashing back to earth on Friday after falling to top teams TNC Pro Team and RSG Philippines, respectively.

RSG proved why it ended the regular season as the No. 1 seed with a 3-0 thrashing of Onic to book its upper bracket finals seat, a series win away from the championship round.

Most Valuable Player Dylan “Light” Catipon made all the right plays on Atlas in the decisive Game 3 as RSG remained unbeaten against Onic this season.

Earlier, TNC became the first team to reach the upper bracket finals after cruising to a 3-1 triumph over Omega, which will fight for its tournament life against Onic in the lower bracket semifinals.

RSG and TNC will lock horns on Saturday for a place in the grand finals, with the loser facing the winner between Omega and Onic in the lower bracket finals. – Rappler.com