Team Manila Eagles cap off perfect season with thrilling reverse sweep finals
WORLD TRADE CENTER, Pasay City – Team Manila Eagles are crowned the PGS Summer Split Finals after completing a reverse sweep against Mineski last Sunday at Rampage 2017.
Coming off a perfect summer split, Team Manila Eagles looked poised to take the titles at Rampage against fellow veteran team Mineski. Finishing third in the regular season, Mineski had to go through the Playoffs.
The Quarterfinals were against 2016 PGS Summer champions Acclaim EmpireX. Mineski won in a resounding 3-1 victory. Semifinals saw another previous champion, Imperium Pro Team, who won the 2014 PGL Spring titles. IPT also faced Mineski recently at this year’s Spring Playoffs, where they also fell short.
The Finals were held at Garena’s annual Rampage event, like it has for the past three years. Both teams were on hot streaks; Mineski were the previous split’s champions, and finished first in the Garena Premier League Spring 2017 group stage. The Eagles, despite having a rough Spring split, won the recent Mineski Pro Gaming League Season 8 tournament as Cerberus, against none other than Mineski.
Over 14,000 League of Legends fans came to witness two veteran teams go head to head. After taking the first game, Mineski looked to be the Kryptonite to the Eagles. TME had suffered their first loss in the whole season. With a Game 2 victory, they were poised to bring down the star-studded Eagles. Mineski’s star midlaner Exosen went off and carried his team on the brink of victory, going 13/1/14 on Orianna and 12/1/13 on Taliyah.
Undaunted, TME looked to bounce back. Thousands of fans shook the WTC as the Eagles locked in Gangplank, a JLC special, and a champion who has not seen professional play in a while. Mineski were not able to prepare for such a pick, and with his global presence, split push threat, and damage potential JLC and the Eagles took Game 3 to save them from elimination.
With newfound determination, TME were back in the game. Mineski’s pick composition failed to outlast the Eagles’ poke and engage and composition. TME played slow and steady, and won a calculated Game 4 to even up the series. With momentum on their side, TME had a very favorable Game 5. After finding success in damage-dealing champions as opposed to tanks, JLC picked up another strong meta pick in Cho’Gath. Strong individual laning phases coupled with smart teamfighting propelled the Eagles to victory, capping off an instant classic that will be talked about in the years to come.
Watch Team Manila Eagles as they prepare to soar to new heights at the Garena Premier League which pits the best South East Asian teams to fight for a spot at Worlds. Group Stages begin on August 21. Playoffs run from August 25-27 at Muang Thai GMM Live House, 8th Flr., Central World, Bangkok, Thailand.
Feature image from Garena Pro Gaming Series PH’s Facebook page.
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