Sunsparks took the league by storm in Season Four after snatching its first-ever Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines title.
And the franchise did not take too long to cement its legacy.
Come the next season, Sunsparks wrote history by winning an unprecedented second consecutive championship, becoming the best team in the local Mobile Legends scene.
The team then decided to leap from another franchise, bringing the banner of Indonesia-based organization Aura Fire to Philippine soil with the hopes of claiming their third title together.
However, the core of Jaypee “Jaypee” Dela Cruz, Allen “Greed_” Baloy, Christian “Rafflesia” Fajura, Kielvj “Kielvj” Hernandez, Ashley Marco “Killuash” Cruz, and Renz “Renzio” Cadua failed to bring their winning ways to Aura in the league’s sixth season.
The two-season reign of the former Sunsparks squad came to a bitter end after a quarterfinals exit at the hands of archrival ONIC PH in the playoffs.
Just like that, the most dominant run in MPL-Philippines has come to an end.
And now, Aura PH looks to start anew after some tweaks in their roster. They will try and rewrite the history books again come the ONE Esports Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Invitational.
New faces
After failing to reach expectations, Aura PH has decided to let go of side laner Kielvj “Kielvj” Hernandez and sixth man Renz “Renzio” Cadua just a week after the heartbreaking loss.
The organization then announced one of the biggest coups in the off-season after signing up-and-coming stars Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales and Mark “Hadess” Lazaro.
Bennyqt’s versatility was a key factor in Execration’s ascent to the rankings. The team was able to end Season Six at third place thanks to a reverse sweep against ONIC PH.
Hadess, meanwhile, spearheaded Cignal Ultra’s comeback in the league. He also showed in the playoffs that he could keep up against the best cores in the Philippines, dragging Hadjizy and Omega Esports to five games in the quarterfinals before bowing out of the playoffs.
Switching it up
Aura PH has yet to announce who will be playing what role for the team.
So let’s try and dissect the current pieces they have to come up with a possible lineup.
With Hadess’s arrival, it is highly likely that Jaypee will either slide down the support role or even the sixth man position.
Tiebreaker Times has to note that some analysts bared that Jaypee is in the running for the reserve spot mainly because of his responsibilities to his family, but this is the professional scene and sacrifices are inevitable just like in any other job.
Jaypee’s game took a massive dip during the previous reason. And if there’s any reason that he’s not in the main five anymore, this should be it.
The former ArkAngel core is also very capable of switching to the side lanes, but with Killuash and Bennyqt in the roster, Tiebreaker Times doesn’t see Jaypee playing this role in the foreseeable future.
On the other hand, Greed_, despite underperforming in Season Six, is still considered as one of the best support players in the league while Rafflesia will most likely retain his position as the starting tank.
Friendly fire
Again, a result of BREN Esports coach Francis “Duckeyyy” Glindro’s hilarious antics in the MPL Invitational champion’s draft put another franchise in friendly fire.
Aura PH, who was drafted by Duckeyyy with the first pick in the second round, will be going up against Indonesian counterpart Aura Fire in the first round of bracket B.
Clearly, the Filipinos will be entering the match-up with the upper hand despite its roster change. Experience, as well as talent, favors Aura PH heavily on this one.
On the other hand, Aura Fire, who failed to qualify for the MPL-Indonesia playoffs, will be bringing in two new faces as well in Kabuki and Druu to help their campaign.
Unlike Hadess and Bennyqt, Aura Fire’s newest additions have yet to prove themselves in the professional scene. And a battle-tested squad like Aura PH can definitely take advantage of that in tight situations.
One of the glaring problems that Aura PH needs to avoid is becoming stagnant, just like what happened in the previous season of MPL-Philippines.
After their infamous Diggie strategy in their opening game of the season, Aura PH pretty much had standard games for the rest of the tournament — making it easier for teams to prepare against them.
The only way that Aura PH could lose this series is if they go unprepared, but based on their previous mishap, there is no doubt that this team has already learned from their mistake.
Aura PH will be igniting the #AuraFire in One Esports MPL Invitational on Friday at 2:15 p.m.
