Fnatic ONIC PH outlast Aurora to claim MPL Philippines Season 14 championship

Image: Fnatic ONIC PH

Many expected Fnatic ONIC PH to claim this victory, which they did, but Aurora sure made them work for it.

Filipino Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) juggernauts FNATIC Onic PH have completed one of the most dominant MLBB Professional League (MPL) seasons in the game's history after they outlasted Aurora Gaming, 4-3, in the best-of-seven grand finals of the MPL Philippines Season 14 Playoffs on Sunday (October 20).

With their victory, ONIC PH claimed the grand prize of $35,000 while Aurora settled for second place and $20,000 in consolation. Both squads now look ahead to the M6 World Championship in November, where they will be fighting to claim the Philippines' fifth-straight MLBB world championship title.

ONIC PH entered the MPL PH Season 14 Playoffs with supreme confidence after absolutely dominating the Regular Season, where they finished with a near-perfect 13-1 record. They won their first 13 matches and suffered their only loss in their last match of the Regular Season against Omega Esports in a 2-1 upset, qualifying for the Playoffs having won 27 out of a total of 34 Regular Season games.

Meanwhile, Aurora qualified for the Playoffs as the fourth seed after finishing the Regular Season with an 8-6 record.

As the Regular Season's top seed, ONIC PH earned a direct berth to the upper bracket semifinals in the Playoffs. On the other hand, Aurora first had to overcome Team Liquid PH in a five-game slugfest in the Play-Ins to get their first crack at their eventual grand finals opponent.

ONIC PH soundly swept Aurora in their first encounter in the upper bracket semifinals, thus advancing to the upper bracket finals and knocking their opponents down to the lower bracket. ONIC PH then defeated M5 champions Falcons AP.Bren in the upper bracket finals to become the first team in the MPL PH Season 14 grand finals and the first Filipino team to qualify for M6.

Aurora bounced back from their previous loss by sweeping Blacklist International in the lower bracket semifinals, which earned them the right to challenge AP.Bren for the second spot in the grand finals and – most importantly – the final slot in M6 for the Philippines. While AP.Bren won the opening game of the lower bracket finals, Aurora pulled off a massive 4-2 upset to deny the reigning champions the chance to defend their title and force a rematch with ONIC PH in the championship round.

FNATIC Onic PHvsAurora Gaming

Despite the odds stacked against them, it was Aurora that started the grand finals strong as they held an 11-6 kill lead in the first 10 minutes. However, ONIC PH bided their time before finding their opportunity to turn the tables around the 17-minute mark, where they stole Lord from Aurora and bagged four big kills to boot. 

With momentum firmly on their side from that huge clash, ONIC PH took their first win of the series not long after. King “K1NGKONG” Perez led the way for ONIC PH in game one, notching seven kills and four assists on two deaths as Suyou.

Both teams were neck-and-neck early into game two, with the kill score tied at 4-4 as both teams repeatedly probed for openings. The deadlock would persist until the 17-minute mark, which saw Aurora claim Lord but at the cost of two huge deaths. That gave ONIC PH the momentum they needed to win the next Lord fight and secure a 2-0 series lead after 21 minutes of action.

Marco “Super Marco” Requitiano on Yve paced ONIC PH's 13-6 kill lead in game two with six kills and five assists on one death. Grant “Kelra” Pillas on Beatrix also added a clean five kills and three assists.

Aurora then struck back in game three, as they overcame a stubborn ONIC PH defense in 17 minutes to get their first win of the series on the board. Jonard “Demonkite” Caranto on Ling led the way with four kills and five assists on three deaths while Edward “Edward” Dapadap on Edith had three kills and six assists on just one death.

ONIC PH were quick to strike back in game four, as they dominated Aurora to the tune of a 17-5 kill lead in 15 minutes to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Kelra on Harith spearheaded his team in the stomp with six kills and five assists on one death while Jan Kirk “Kirk” Gutierrez on Phoveus added a clean four kills and six assists.

With their backs against the wall in game five, Aurora looked out for the count as they were down 2-8 in kills and had their base dangerously exposed by ONIC PH 11 minutes in. Even so, Aurora put on a masterful defense and flipped the script by taking down three ONIC PH heroes in a massive clash for Lord around the 14-minute mark. 

This golden opportunity was not wasted by the underdogs in this matchup, as they guaranteed there will be a game four in just under 15 minutes of action. Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo on Cecilion sparked Aurora's huge comeback win with a perfect 13-kill, four-assist scoreline.

Game six saw Aurora pull off another comeback win, this time behind Demonkite on Alpha. Aurora's jungler finished with five kills and seven assists on two deaths in just under 14 minutes of action to help his team force the grand finals to a deciding game seven.

With the championship on the line in game seven, both teams took the gloves off and went blow-for-blow. After multiple clashes over control of Lord, it was ONIC PH that broke into their opponents' base first at the 16-minute mark. However, the next Lord fell into the hands of Aurora, who used it to mount what looked to be the series-ending siege through the bottom lane.

Despite Aurora's best efforts to break through, ONIC PH's defenses proved impenetrable as they scored four kills on their besiegers. With Aurora having spent everything in their failed siege, they could do little to stop ONIC PH from claiming the 3-1 series victory and the MPL PH Season 14 championship after a 21-minute thriller.

Super Marco on Vexana and Kirk on Edith pushed ONIC PH past the finish line as they both recorded a clean three kills and eight assists. Kelra on Beatrix also added four kills and assists apiece on one death to help close out the series.

With the conclusion of MPL PH Season 14, ONIC PH and Aurora now look ahead to the M6 World Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from November 21 to December 15. There, they will join 23 of the best MLBB teams from all around the world in a battle for this year's MLBB world championship title.

For everything you need to know about the M6 World Championship, check here.