From Geek Fam‘s Cinderella run to ONIC Esports’ quest for back-to-back MPLI titles, there were no shortage of action at ONE Esports Mobile Legends Professional League Invitational 2022 (MPLI 2022).

20 invited teams from five regions duked it out for five action-packed days. In the end, ONIC Esports made history, becoming the first team to win their second straight MPLI title, and bringing home the lion’s share of the US$100,000 prize pool.

Here’s a look back at the top five plays at MPLI 2022.

Watch the top 5 plays from ONE Esports MPLI 2022

ONIC Esports MPLI 2022 champion
Credit: ONE Esports

5. ECHO Bennyqt ties the series with a sneaky split push play on Bruno

ECHO’s Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales put on a show with this high-IQ play on Bruno against EVOS Legends. Both teams were fighting for the crucial Enhanced Lord in the top lane, and Bennyqt took matter into his own hands and decided to go to the opposite lane to try and end the game.

EVOS noticed the split push and left the Lord to recall back to the base. But it was all too late. Bennyqt’s Bruno was all eyes on the prize. With only two minions by his side, he went all-in on the crystal to win the second game, the first victory via split push in the tournament.

4. Bren Esports KyleTzy’s game-winning Hurricane Dance on Akai is impressive

Before the series, Bren Esports rookie Michael “KyleTzy” Sayson promised ECHO Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno that he would avenge him against EVOS Legends after EVOS eliminated ECHO in the first round.

He fulfilled that promise with this play on Akai in the third game when they went up against the white tigers. With EVOS Legends on the defensive in the dying moments of the game, KyleTzy took a risk and jumped inside the base while everyone was still at the back of the tower.

He activated Hurricane Dance with tower aggro and caught three. The remaining members then followed inside the base and dealt the killing blow, which eventually led to Bren Esports winning the series in a thriller.

3. ONIC PH’s Nets gets the job done on Beatrix

Another rookie from MPL PH, Kenneth “Nets” Barro came out swinging on Beatrix in their match against Indonesia’s Aura Fire.

The yellow hedgehogs were pushing down the midlane at the 13-minute mark to try and end the game. Then, Aura Fire tried to turn things around and initiated a team fight near their midlane base turret.

Nets predicted the Blazing Duet ultimate of Leonardo “Kabuki” Agung’s Claude and dashed away from it at the last second. He then activated Nibiru’s Passion to shred the enemy’s HP, and switched to Renner to burst them down one-by-one, resulting in the Maniac.

2. Geek Fam’s Caderaa showcases his mastery on signature Beatrix

Geek Fam’s Mohammad “Caderaa” Pambudi became the star of this series with this insane Beatrix play against Malaysia’s Orange Esports.

It all started when both teams were trying to get a good position near the Lord pit. Allen “Baloyskie” Baloy’s Kadita then caught one member of Orange Esports to signal the start of the team fight.

Out of nowhere, Caderaa dashed into the middle of the team fight and used Nibiru’s Passion to mow down all four members of the Malaysian squad.

1. Todak’s CikuGais proves that Wanwan is still overpowered despite nerfs

MPL MY superstar Muhammad “CikuGais” Fuad locked in Wanwan against Singapore’s Slate Esports. Despite the hero receiving countless nerfs over the past few months, he was flawless with the hero, even with her main hero counter Phoveus on the opposing side.

He popped off at the 13-minute mark after he jumped in front of a team fight and activated Crossbow of Tang in the nick of time to unleash havoc on all members of Slate Esports.

He then secured a Maniac and was en route to securing the first Savage in the tournament. Muhammad “Yums” Suhairi’s made the unfortunate mistake on Mathilda, and accidentally bursted down the retreating Paquito to deny Ciku a Savage.

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