MPL MM champions Burmese Ghouls came out victorious against their home country rivals, Ronin Esports, on the third day of the ONE Esports MPL Invitational.
ONE Esports caught up with Burmese Ghouls coach PVNDV (pronounced panda) to hear his thoughts on the MPL MM finals rematch.
Even though Ronin Esports dominated their bracket with wins over Execration and EVOS SG, PVNDV saw them as very familiar opponents that played like they used to in the regular MPL MM season.
“We know their strategies and they know our strategies too,” said the coach. “We can make a counter easily with different strategies and drafts.”
With Burmese Ghouls not playing in the first weekend, they had the chance to analyze Ronin Esports throughout their matches.
PVNDV emphasized that the Ronin’s most talented players were JustiN and Naomi because of their hero pools. Knowing how JustiN excels in using mages like Vale and Eudora, the coach prioritized banning those heroes to have an advantage in the draft.
Game one saw a strong showing from the Burmese Ghouls. Even with Ronin bringing out an aggressive draft with Luo Yi and Yi Sun-shin, PVNDV prioritized stunning heroes to properly shut down their engagements.
“I tried to counter with Eudora and Khaleed and it worked,” said PVNDV. “As for Yi Sun-shin, Ronin’s YSS was not a full hypercarry so I picked a marksman like Brody so we would have more damage in the late-game phase.”
Burmese Ghouls fought against a stacked draft of Barats, Vale, and Yi Sun-shin in game two. While the line-up seems like a terror to go up against, PVNDV was able to win the draft with the final pick of Helcurt.
When asked about the pick, he said that the Helcurt was an immediate counter to Vale since he is able to dodge his skills like Windblow. Looking at the bigger picture, the Helcurt also provided pressure in every lane and could set up ganks for the rest of them. With Ronin’s Barats always solo-laning and opting for the wombo-combo, he was also an easy target for the assassin.
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When comparing Ronin’s performance from the MPL MM finals to the MPLI quarter-final, PVNDV shared nothing but praise for his fellow MM team.
“Yeah, they improved a lot,” stated PVNDV. “I feel like they’re just an all-around stronger team than before.”
With the quarterfinals win, Burmese Ghouls is now set to go up against MPL PH’s Bren Esports. When asked about the region, PVNDV sets them apart as a more experimental league with their gameplay.
“The PH region is not the same like any of the other regions,” stated the coach. “Their teams have a lot of metas to choose from. With Bren Esports being one of the best in the region, the victory will go to the team that makes less mistakes.”
To heat things up for the semifinal, PVNDV had a few words to say to coach Duckey and his Bren squad.
“We’ll try our best and especially don’t underestimate us,” challenged PVNDV.
READ MORE: Burmese Ghouls win the battle of Myanmar to advance to the Semifinals
