ECHO is Bringing the Attitude Era in MPL-PH S9

Let’s be honest, most of us had doubts about the new ECHO lineup for MPL-PH S9. It was a roster that had stars from other teams group up to form an alleged superteam in the preseason. From Professional and amateur players posting scrimmage and ranked game results that didn’t favor the superteam, to ECHO getting knocked out of the SIBOL 2022 National Team Selection during the first phase, and rumors regarding their possible communication issues due to superstar level egos all formed a negative cloud around them.

Despite all that, they silenced doubters in Week 1 of MPL-PH S9 by sweeping both the MSC 2021 Champions Omega Esports, and the rehashed M2 World Champions Bren Esports.

via ECHO

Dismantling the New Bren Esports

Karl “Karltzy” Nepomuceno was the centerpiece of the M2 World Championship winning squad of Bren Esports. Now a part of ECHO, he faces his former “Tzy Brother” in David Charles “Flap” Canon.

Though it’s not sure whether or not they have bad blood, ECHO made it quite evident that they had their eyes set on Flap for the entire series.

Scrappy teamfights from left to right, unnecessary burning of battle spells, recall buttons spammed in front of turrets, and all the possible (and legal) player flairs you could do– ECHO did it all.

Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera was back at it again with his post-game celebrations. This time, we even have Karltzy waving goodbye in the background with his new Tzy Brother Jankurt “Kurtzy” Matira smiling directly on-cam.

Bagyong Benny, Puro Hangin Lang Kaya No Pressure

Notorious for his antics, Robert “Hito” Candoy, together with his teammates in Omega Esports, created a comedic news type segment to throw some competitive banter against ECHO a few days before their match.

via OMEGA ESPORTS

Apart from the usual Hito antics, one line before the video ends struck the most– a line from Duane “Kelra” Pillas where he says, “Mag champion muna sya (He should win a championship first.),” as a response to Yawi’s message to Kelra that says, “Palamunin ka lang sa ranked games (Your team is just feeding you wins)”

During the entire series, ECHO played around Karltzy’s aggression in the early game, and capitalized on early tower dives and invades. Nobody from the side of OMG was safe,– even when they hid under their towers.

At one point, OMG couldn’t even secure a kill until the last parts of the game where ECHO tried to test their limits by trying high-variance solo plays.

The series ended in a quick sweep, with games ending in 15 minutes or less.

After ECHO’s Game 2 win, Yawi immediately acted like he’s crying until his teammates made him stop. It’s not clear whether or not this is a standard Yawi celebration, or more of a message to Kelra who he taunted days before the match even started.

What’s clear is this– ECHO cleared all doubts about their alleged issues as a team. ECHO is a superteam. ECHO is a team that everyone has to keep an eye on this MPL-PH S9. ECHO is bringing not just dominant wins, but spirit-breaking attitude as well.

ECHO will be taking on M3 Champions Blacklist International on Week 2 Day 3 (Feb 27) of MPL-PH Season 9. Blacklist had an unfortunate opening week–losing to both ONIC Philippines and TNC Pro Team.

The revamped ECHO could potentially take down all three teams with international championships in their first two weeks if they were to win against Blacklist International this Sunday.

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