Team Liquid’s Golden Road bid ends after draft misfires against Alter Ego in lower bracket semis

The Cavalry’s stampede towards history had been whittled down by the Indonesian haymakers.

Team Liquid’s (TL) intention to lord over Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s biennial major events had concluded in heartbreaking fashion, bowing to Alter Ego (AE), who held the better pieces down the wire, zooming to a narrow 3–2 finish during the M7 World Championship lower bracket semi-finals at the Tennis Indoor Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 24.

Indonesia’s lone M-Series contender played a better cerebral duel during the drafting phase of the latter games to climb out of a 1–2 series deficit, forcing sudden death to eventually deny the 2025 MSC Champions and book a spot in the lower bracket finals.

TL seemed to find their footing in the tangle, as they shook off a falter in the opener to pocket two straight games, highlighted by Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno’s Leomord, who tallied a fiery 14-3-6 KDA in the third match en route to match point, 1–2.

But that was when the blue-clad men’s fate took an unexpected route.

AE stayed composed despite being an inch away from elimination, jumping to a decisive 13–4 killcount advantage during the eight-minute mark—flexing their dominance found in their strategic line-up to tie the scores and force a decider match.

Syauki Fauzan “Nino” Sumarno’s Sora in Game 4 was simply immune to the Heavy Spin of KarlTzy’s Akai as long as he precisely timed the cast of his Shifting Skies.

Arifudin “Arfy” Dingarai’s signature Freya pick in the gold lane clogged Kiel “Oheb” Soriano’s laning farm, pushing him to run late in completing the “Swift Trinity” item set at the 12-minute mark.

Facing a winner-take-all scenario, the Filipinos were able to capitalize on their strong early game to secure the three turtles of the match.

However, TL’s lack of a hero to carry the momentum in the later phases was exploited by AE’s well-designed draft, leaning on Arfy’s Claude, which became the nightmare of the Cavalry’s frontline.

With Arfy becoming the Indonesians’ main source of damage, TL could not contain Claude, who notched his power spike that led to Alter Ego securing both lords taken in the fifth game.

A skillful escape from the Indonesian gold laner during a clash near TL’s lower inhibitor turret opened the gates for AE to wipe out their opponent and wrap up the competition in the 20th minute.

Despite the loss, the gutsy Filipinos will cap off their historic MLBB run with a fourth-place finish in the global tournament.