ECHO beats TODAK to take MSC 2023 semifinals

ECHO took down TODAK to reach the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2023 semifinal round.

The Orcas emerged victorious in their best-of-five quarterfinal match, 3-1, to join fellow Philippine representative Blacklist International in the semifinals here at AEON Mall on Friday, June 16.

ECHO, the current M-series champion, will face the winner between EVOS Legends and ONIC Esports, both from Indonesia, on Saturday, June 17, at 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, Blacklist swept Turkey's Fire Flux Impunity to secure one of the four semis berths last Thursday.

Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno's Lancelot had five kills, six assists, and zero death in the series opener for ECHO to outlast the reigning Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Malaysia champion, 18-4 in kills, and finish them within 13 minutes and 11 seconds.

Nepomuceno and company continued their onslaught in Game Two, quickly racing to a 9-1 lead in kills in the seventh minute but failed to sustain momentum in the late game.

TODAK pulled off a come-from-behind winner behind the heroics of their gold laner Muhammad "CikuGais" Fuad's Claude.

CikuGais turned the tides in their favor by stealing the last lord en route to a backdoor triumph against the MPL Philippines Season 11, leveling the series after 21 minutes.

Unfazed by the endgame collapse in Game Two, ECHO regained their form in the following frame.

Getting his comfort pick in Wanwan, Benedict "Bennyqt" Gonzales vented ire against TODAK. Bennyqt unleashed a flawless 7/0/8 KDA (kill/death/assist) to help ECHO snare a 2-1 advantage on a 19-4 win in almost 14 minutes.

Bennyqt displayed another masterful gold lane performance in the fourth and final game of the Bo5. This time, ECHO's gold laner picked Karrie to lead the way, scoring a triple kill in Game Four's last clash that decided TODAK's fate.