One of the biggest series of the M3 World Championships would close the day as we looked to an upper bracket brawl between RRQ Hoshi and Onic PH.
headline photo courtesy of MLBB Esports
RRQ Hoshi went into M3 being one of the absolute favourites to win the tournament, even after only finishing as runners up in the MPL Indonesia Season 8 event. The team’s brilliance in their group stage matched this, with Alberttt taking a total of 39 kills in just three games. Having only dropped a single game so far in the event, which saw Todak show Alberttt his first Ling loss in a year, teams now knew that they could bleed – and Onic capitalised on this. While the PH team were also runners up at MPL PH, they looked refreshed and ready to dominate today.
While Onic did not want to play into the Alberttt Ling, they did let him pick up the Roger, which saw him pick up the only SAVAGE of M3 so far. That said, the PH team did not seem bothered by this at all, as Kairi showed why he is also considered as one of the best jungle players in the world – dominating with the Lancelot.
The second game of the series was the exact brawl which we expected from both teams, with neither wanting to give up ground. Onic were the ones with the early advantage, before RRQ finally begun to find their footing, fighting back and turning things around completely. Just when it seemed as though the ID team were about to take the win, Onic pounced, finding the perfect pickoffs to just take down the crystal. Once again, Onic refused to allow Alberttt to have any time on Ling, picking it up for Kaira who proved that he was not to be messed with.
Although losing the second game, RRQ definitely begun to show their strengths and continued this forward into game three. While having the early and mid-game advantage, RRQ begun to struggle near the 17-minute mark. While pushing forward, Onic found the better teamfights, reacting to their opponents at every turn, and defending their base at the same time.
It took 28-minutes for Onic to find their perfect opening, but once they did, it was the Philippine’s roster that pushed through to take the win, after a gigantic comeback. RRQ’s entire lineup was left in the dust, as they struggled to find any late game openings, while Onic capitalised on their opponent’s errors to take a clean sweep.
With that, RRQ Hoshi will drop into the lower bracket of the M3 World Championships, while Onic PH will move forward into the upper bracket finals, where they await their next challenger – either BloodThirstyKings or EVOS SG.
