23/07/2026
Aurora Turkey 2-0 TLPH
Game 1
This was a game where TLPH got smashed hard by Aurora Turkey. This might be a game which lasted less than 10 minutes but wow, lots to learn and unravel.
Now, let’s go through the game and understand how it happened and why it happened.
Let’s talk briefly on the draft pick:
Aurora first-picked Freya. Freya is known as a flex pick, you can play her as either jungler, explaner or even gold laner.
TLPH responded with Esme and Eudora. Esme can absorb shield and is normally built tanky. Esme is rather one-dimensional in the sense it’s mostly played as a explaner, so quite predictable. From the first 2 picks, we can see that TLPH is now reacting to the picks of Aurora. TLPH also took Eudora. Eudora is now META in pro gameplay, but of course there are limitations to this hero which we will see why later.
Aurora instantly took Hirara and Belerick. Hirara is a new hero, nobody really knows how good is this hero. I personally played rank once against Hirara and I have to say the player I played against was very good and was very slippery, literally weaving in and out of our attacks. If you go onto Reddit, just a month ago, many were saying that Hirara is a terrible hero (link to the post https://www.reddit.com/r/MobileLegendsGame/s/qCfxD1QNmE with 1100 upvotes 🤦🏻♂️….Redditors always judge heroes too quickly). Belerick was picked and I felt it was too early because we don’t know what damage dealers TLPH are going to use next. However, it doesn’t matter because Aurora had a master plan to use Belerick to the max potential, so the Belerick pick did not need to wait or depend on what TLPH picks next.
TLPH then took YSS and Gatotkaca. Aurora picked Rafaela and Uranus next. Master plan sealed. TLPH had no way to respond to the draft. They were stuck in the draft because Rafaela midlane was unexpected. TLPH took Claude but we all know that Belerick is a natural counter to Claude with Blade Armour + belerick’s passive. No MM for Aurora, so they have to snowball fast.
Gameplay
Early game the first 5-6 minutes, it was very quiet, both teams prioritising juggling and farming safely. Not much action ongoing.
The first major teamfight happened from one event : Uranus cutting minion waves early at top lane and then moving to blue buff. At bottom lane, Freya was freezing waves but proceed to fast clear. These were warning signs that Aurora that a planned attack is about to happen.
Aurora had the advantage : they have Rafaela to heal and also most of their heroes were full HP. Both Karltzy and Jaypee were at 70% HP. They took advantage of this. This might look like a small difference but it played a huge part in this fight.
Claude was clearing lanes when the teamfight happen. Meanwhile Aurora had the full 5 to attack. TLPH had no chance of winning this fight as they were low in HP to begin with and had no early game damage heroes. Eudora and YSS will not do not any significant damage to Freya, Belerick, Uranus with a Rafaela healing them.
At 7:30, Claude was isolated at bottom lane clearing minions by himself, Uranus tower-dived to deal some damage. At the blue buff, Hirara and Rafaela were already there stealing the buff but both were quick to help Uranus finish off Claude. Once again, Aurora showing the swiftness of their attack.
TLPH tried to defend midlane second tower but honestly at this point, Aurora was too farmed and with high confidence from winning successive fights, they just tower-dived which started from Hirara. Belerick made sure to cut off any escape routes and Freya jumping in to finish anyone seeking refuge under the base tower. Despite fighting under the tower, no Aurora deaths from this teamfight and even there was, Rafaela would resurrect the hero instantly anyways.
Eudora had no chance to make any meaningful impact, this hero is good against squishy heroes but against 3 tanky heroes : Freya, Belerick, Uranus. Oops, no chance.
Game ended at 9:40, less than 10 minutes.
Learning points
Here are main learning points from this game:
1. UBE strategy still alive and viable .
- This is a modern UBE strategy in the form of Rafaela as the healing support with Belerick and Uranus soaking damage. UBE can be countered by “banana-split” strategy but in this case, it doesn’t matter if TLPH’s Claude was farming solo. Aurora snowballed fast, made sure to maintain aggression, stole every farming/jungling resource and basically exerted map dominance.
2. Recognising the “early signs” of a coordinated attack.
- Uranus cutting waves top then rotating to blue buff, and Freya stopped freezing wave and proceeded to quickly clear the wave. These are signs of an impending attack. TLPH could have grouped together instead, but would it have changed the outcome? Maybe not.
3. Draft flexibility beats draft reaction.
- Aurora’s Freya first pick….jungle? exp? gold? TLPH committed too early with Esme and Eudora. From pick 2 onward, TLPH was answering questions while Aurora was silently executing their masterplan. Rafaela mid was the final piece that TLPH never saw coming. Caught everyone by surprise.
4. Fight when you have the HP and sustain/heal advantage.
- Aurora engaged with 5 full-HP heroes plus Rafaela healing, against a team at ~70% with no healer. A 30% HP gap may look small but difference is massive in early teamfights.
Overall Aurora’s preparation coming into this game was superb and TLPH didn’t stand a chance.
Feel free to add or highlight any other interesting points. Thank you for reading.
