Team Liquid exits M7 to end 'Golden Road' bid
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Team Liquid's "Golden Road" campaign has reached a dead end as the team fell to home bet Alter Ego, 2-3, in the lower bracket semifinals of the M7 World Championship here.
Having won its previous do-or-die matches in the lower bracket against ONIC Esports and Aurora Gaming, the Philippine champion was hoping to continue the momentum until the grand finals. But the Indonesian squad seemed to have other plans as it was quick to take the early lead in Game 1.
Though Team Liquid was quick to equalize, ending Game 2 in under 13 minutes and even moved to match point after the Cavalry took control of Game 3 thanks to Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno's Leomord, who stacked 14 kills and six assists.
But the Indonesian squad was not going down in front of the home crowd, Game 4 was another quick map with Alter Ego forcing a decider in just over 12 minutes.
In the final game of the series, Team Liquid's draft relied heavily on an early game domination that seemed to be on track. But Indonesia turned the tide by the first lord, punishing the Cavalry's draft with their own late-game strength to eliminate the Filipino champion from the tournament.
The elimination snaps Team Liquid's win streak in 2025, having won both Mobile Legends Professional League Philippine seasons as well as the Mid-Season Cup, while all the players and coaches also won the 33rd Southeast Asian Games gold medal for MLBB under the banner of Sibol.
"Sobrang proud ako sa kanila kasi kahit sobrang hirap ng pinagdaanan namin, sobrang dami naming struggles, patuloy pa rin silang nangangarap at lumalaban. Masaya din ako na sila ang team ko, wala akong pinagsisisihan,” said Team Liquid's coach Rodel "Ar Sy" Cruz.
"I'm very proud of the team, of course. Marami na rin kaming na-achieve.
But we really wanted this M7, however, we fell short. So, for us, there's a lot of adjustments. I know this is the end of our M7 run and I apologize to all of the Filipinos. Siyempre, hindi namin nakamit yung golden road. But for my team, marami kaming laban napuntahan and I know that sometimes [the team] felt so tired. But still, kinakaya nila. Thank you, boys, for reaching this far. Sobrang proud ako sa kanila na kahit talo, tinagap nila yun,” said Team Liquid's PH Esports head Mitch Liwanag.
Alter Ego also conquered the lower bracket finals against Malaysia's Selangor Red Giants, with Filipino players John "Innocent" Banal and Mark "Kramm" Rusiana as well as Filipino coach Michael "Arcadia" Bocado, to propel the M7 World Championship as the the most-watched mobile esports event of all time with 5.59 million Peak Concurrent Viewers (PCV), according to Esports Charts.
The tournament will hold its finale at 7 p.m. Monday (Manila time), with last Filipino team Aurora Gaming PH hoping to best home bet Alter Ego in a best-of-seven matchup.
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