Fnatic ONIC PH are the first Filipino team to qualify for the M6 World Championship

Image: Fnatic ONIC PH

After a historically dominant Regular Season, Fnatic ONIC PH become the first of two Filipino teams that will contest this year's world championship.

Filipino Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) juggernauts FNATIC Onic PH became the first team from the Philippines to qualify for the M6 World Championship after they defeated M5 champions Falcons AP.Bren, 3-1, in the upper bracket finals of the MLBB Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 14 Playoffs on Friday (October 18).

ONIC PH qualifying for M6 comes as no surprise when considering their historically dominant run in MPL PH Season 14. In the Regular Season, ONIC PH claimed the first seed by a country mile with a near-perfect 13-1 match record and 27-7 game record. Their only loss notably came in their last match of the Regular Season, where Omega Esports managed to pull off a 2-1 upset.

Meanwhile, AP.Bren finished as the league's second seed in with a 10-4 record, notably going 1-4 against ONIC PH in their two Regular Season matchups.

As the league's Top 2 seeds, ONIC PH and AP.Bren earned direct berths to the upper bracket semifinals in the Playoffs, where they faced Play-In winners Aurora and Blacklist International, respectively. ONIC PH made short work of Aurora in a 3-0 sweep while AP.Bren outlasted Blacklist in five games, which set up an upper bracket final showdown between the two best teams in the Regular Season.

Falcons AP.BrenvsFNATIC Onic PH

ONIC PH entered the series with guns blazing, racking up a 6-3 kill lead and a 1,300 gold lead in just the first three minutes. They then simply snowballed from there and took their first win of the match in 12 minutes and with a 12-4 kill lead. King “K1NGKONG” Perez led the way with six kills and five assists on just one death as Suyou while Grant “Kelra” Pillas on Beatrix added a clean four kills and one assist.

AP.Bren put up a better fight in a drawn-out game two, as they managed to repel what would have been a game-ending push by ONIC PH despite at the 15-minute mark. AP.Bren then snagged the kill lead around the 18-minute mark with a couple of good fights to further stall their opponents' offensive. However, ONIC PH found their opening in a clash for Lord control that allowed them to secure a commanding 2-0 series lead after 22 minutes of action.

K1NGKONG showed out once again, this time with Nolan, and finished with five kills and three assists out of his team's 13-10 kill score. Kelra also had another perfect showing, ending with three kills and seven assists as Clint.

With their backs against the wall in game three, AP.Bren took the fight to ONIC PH and came away with a 13-9 kill lead after a bloodbath in the first 15 minutes. ONIC PH then withstood multiple siege attempts, but they could only hold until the 23-minute mark before AP.Bren guaranteed the series would go to a fourth game. Marco “Super Marco” Requitiano on Moskov put up a stellar nine kills and five assists on zero deaths as Moskov prevented the sweep.

ONIC PH then reminded everyone of their dominance in game four, bulldozing AP.Bren in the early game to the tune of a 6-1 kill lead in just the first three minutes. Despite AP.Bren's best efforts to mount a comeback, ONIC PH simply could not be denied as they secured the 3-1 series victory and their spot in M6 in a 9-minute rout. 

K1NGKONG had his best performance in an already excellent series to close things out, putting up a perfect nine-kill, three-assist showing on Suyou. Kelra also had his third clean game of the match as Moskov, finishing with two kills and five assists. 

With their victory, ONIC PH advanced to the grand finals of the MPL PH Season 14 Playoffs and guaranteed themselves at least a second place finish as well as $20,000 in winnings. With the all-important spot in the M6 World Championship also secured, ONIC PH can focus on claiming the MPL PH Season 14 championship and the grand prize of $35,000.

Meanwhile, AP.Bren still have another shot at qualifying for M6 as they drop down to the lower bracket finals. They will be facing the winner of the lower bracket semifinals match between Blacklist and Aurora.