JAKARTA, Indonesia – Filipino player Peter Bryce “Basic” Lozano and coach Steve “Dale” Vitug remained in contention in the Mobile Legends M4 World Championship as their respective teams stayed alive in the lower bracket.

Basic and American side The Valley continued their superb run in the knockout rounds after a dismaying group stage campaign, eliminating former Malaysian champion TODAK via a 2-0 sweep to advance on Tuesday, January 10.

Yet to drop a game in the knockout stage, The Valley also booted out Filipino coach John Michael “Zico” Dizon and reigning Cambodian titlist Burn X Flash, 2-0, a day prior.

Meanwhile, Dale steered Myanmar’s Falcon Esports to a dominant 2-0 win over Argentina’s S11 Gaming as they got back on track after being dropped from the upper bracket.

Falcon Esports topped Group A, twice toppling defending world champion Blacklist International to reach the upper bracket, only to be swept by Indonesia’s Onic Esports in the first round of the knockout stage.

Up next for The Valley is Brazil’s RRQ Akira, while Falcon Esports battles Turkey’s Incendio Supremacy for spots in the lower bracket quarterfinals.

The winners will face the losers of the upper bracket semifinals pitting Blacklist International against Indonesian powerhouse RRQ Hoshi and Filipino squad Echo against Onic Esports.

A prize pool of $800,000 (nearly P44 million) is at stake in the 16-team showdown, with the champion taking home the top purse of $300,000 (nearly P16.5 million).

Aside from Burn X Flash, TODAK, and S11 Gaming, other eliminated teams were Singapore’s RSG, Malaysia’s Team HAQ, Vietnam’s MDH Esports, Argentina’s Malvinas Gaming, and Egypt’s Occupy Thrones. – Rappler.com