The second round robin of MPL Philippines 2026 kicked off with a bang, and Week 5 delivered some of the wildest results we’ve seen all season. Team Liquid PH kept rolling, TNC Pro Team pulled off the upset of the split, and the playoff picture got a lot more complicated for everyone else.
Let’s break down everything that happened.
TLPH Clinch Playoffs at 9-0
If there was any doubt about who’s running MPL PH Season 17, Team Liquid PH put that to rest. The Cavalry opened Friday with a clean 2-0 sweep over Aurora Gaming and came back Saturday to do the exact same thing to Twisted Minds PH.
That’s nine straight series wins without dropping a single best-of-three, and it was enough to make TLPH the first team to officially clinch a playoff spot this season. With the postseason moving to San Juan Arena’s Playtime FilOil Centre on May 27-31, KarlTzy and the squad already know they’ll be playing on that stage. The gap between first and second place is real, and every other team in the league knows it.
TNC Stun M7 World Champions Aurora in a 2-0 Sweep
This was the headline of the weekend. TNC Pro Team, sitting at a rough 1-6 record and dead last in the standings, walked into Saturday’s match against Aurora Gaming PH and absolutely dominated the reigning M7 World Champions with a 2-0 shutout.
Nobody saw this coming. The MPL PH Superfans prediction poll had 93% of fans picking Aurora before the series started. Instead, TNC broke a four-match losing slump and delivered probably the biggest upset of the entire season. Ch4knu continued to be the veteran anchor this roster needs, and the Phoenix Army played their cleanest MLBB of the split across both games.
For Aurora, the weekend was a disaster. They also lost 0-2 to TLPH on Friday, meaning the world champions went 0-4 in games across Week 5 and dropped to 3-6 for the season. That puts them in a three-way tie for fifth with Twisted Minds and AP Bren. Demonkite and the rest of the squad need a serious reset heading into Week 6 if they want to avoid a shocking playoff miss.
Smart Omega Get Revenge on AP Bren
On the other end of Saturday’s card, Smart Omega pulled off their own upset by taking down AP Bren 2-1. This was a revenge match from Week 1, when AP Bren swept Omega clean. This time around, the Barangay flipped the script behind strong performances from EXP laner Jeymz and jungler Raizen, who has been one of the more exciting playmakers in the bottom half of the standings.
For AP Bren, it was another painful loss in a season full of them. The Hive came into Week 5 on a brutal six-match losing skid, and the defeat to Omega only made things worse. They did manage to stop the bleeding on Sunday with a hard-fought 2-1 win over TNC, with Jamespangks doing what he could from the jungle to stabilize the team. That victory brings AP Bren to 3-6, but time is running out for a roster that has now lost more than it has won.
Team Falcons Take Down ONIC in Sunday’s Closer
Sunday’s headline match saw Team Falcons PH edge out ONIC Philippines 2-1 in a tightly contested series. Falcons needed all three games to get it done, but the win kept them firmly in second place at 7-1 and within striking distance of TLPH at the top.
ONIC opened their week with a comfortable 2-0 over Twisted Minds on Friday, where K1NGKONG and the mid-jungle duo set the tempo early. But the loss to Falcons on Sunday means the Super Family drops to 5-4, and they still haven’t been able to crack the top two. Third place is a solid position, but coach and roster will know they need to find another gear if they want an upper-bracket advantage in the playoffs.
MPL Philippines 2026 Standings After Week 5
| Rank | Team | W-L | Week 5 Record |
| 1st | Team Liquid PH | 9-0 | 2-0 |
| 2nd | Team Falcons PH | 7-1 | 1-0 |
| 3rd | ONIC Philippines | 5-4 | 1-1 |
| 4th | Smart Omega | 3-5 | 1-0 |
| 5th | Aurora Gaming PH | 3-6 | 0-2 |
| 6th | Twisted Minds PH | 3-6 | 0-2 |
| 7th | AP Bren | 3-6 | 1-1 |
| 8th | TNC Pro Team | 2-7 | 1-1 |
Rankings among tied teams are determined by net game differential and head-to-head records per official MPL PH tiebreaker rules. Positions 4-7 may shift as the season progresses.
What to Watch in Week 6
The biggest match of Week 6 is easy to spot: TLPH vs Team Falcons PH on Saturday. This is the rematch everyone has been waiting for. Falcons are the only team that took a game off TLPH in their Week 2 series (before losing 1-2), and this time around, second place and potential playoff seeding are on the line.
Elsewhere, Aurora needs wins badly and will face Twisted Minds and Team Falcons. Neither matchup is a free win at this point. Meanwhile, TNC takes on ONIC in a match that could determine whether the Phoenix Army’s upset over Aurora was a one-off or the start of a real comeback run.
With only three weeks left in the regular season, there’s zero margin for error in the bottom half. Six teams make playoffs, meaning two go home early, and right now four squads are separated by a single win fighting for those last spot
