Image: MOONTON Games
Selangor Red Giants' golden road is now in peril as Fnatic ONIC PH aim to extend the Philippines' dominance in Mobile Legends for another year.
The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M6 World Championship Knockout Stage started with a bang on Saturday (December 7), with 
Fnatic ONIC PH shining bright as they defeated 
Selangor Red Giants in a clash between the two biggest favourites of the tournament. 
Falcon Esports also continued to silence their doubters with a victory over 
NIP Flash while Indonesia's 
Team Liquid ID and 
RRQ Hoshi scored wins over 
Team Spirit and 
Team Vamos.
Here's how all the action in the opening day of the M6 World Championship Knockout Stage went down:
The Knockout Stage opened with a contest between NIP Flash and Falcon Esports, one of the best-performing teams in the tournament that can boast of a victory over Selangor Red Giants in the Swiss Stage.
In the first game, NIP Flash took Vale as their mid laner to mitigate Falcon Esports’ Hylos with his wind magic, which gives him the necessary crowd control. The Singaporean squad also picked Hilda for 
Yeo “Diablo” Lun to make their lineup similar to the ones often run by Selangor Red Giants. However, Falcon Esports picked the surprise Roger to engage the backline of NIP Flash. While Diablo played an astounding game, it was not enough as the early lead secured by the opposing Roger-Phoveus duo proved too big to overcome.
The second game was a stark difference from the series opener as NIP Flash took the early lead with Vexana and Khaleed providing the necessary crowd control in the teamfights. However, Falcon Esports maximised the utility provided by the Luo Yi to pressure Keith “Vanix” Lim multiple times. It was a game to forget for the gold laner, as his presence wasn’t felt at all. Falcon Esports went on to finish game two under 15 minutes for a clean 2-0 series win.
The second series of the day saw the highly-anticipated matchup between the two best teams in M6: Filipino juggernauts Fnatic ONIC PH and hometown heroes Selangor Red Giants. Both had something to prove, with Fnatic ONIC PH looking to cement their status as the best team right now while Selangor Red Giants aim to be the first team to complete the golden road in MLBB esports.
A quick look at the draft showed that both teams still have some tricks up their sleeves. Fnatic ONIC PH relied on Edith and Khaleed for their frontlines while Selangor Red Giants picked Julian as the answer for the enemy's burst potential. While Julian was a great pick against Pharsa on paper, 
King “K1ngkong” Perez proved that something as simple as a draft pick isn't enough to win against Fnatic ONIC PH as 
Muhammad “Sekys” Zaman wasn't having a great time playing the hero. The Filipino team won the first game in under 20 minutes with Jann Kirk Solcruz “Kirk” Gutierrez and Duane “Kelra” Pillas dominating.
If the first game took almost 20 minutes to clear, the second game took way less time as Fnatic ONIC Philippines just picked a meta composition against Selangor Red Giants' Grock and Harith. The result surprised no one, as the Filipino juggernauts completed the 2-0 series sweep in just 12 minutes to drop Selangor Red Giants down to the lower bracket.
The third match then pitted RRQ Hoshi and Team Vamos, two teams with widely different runs through the Swiss Stage. RRQ Hoshi was the first team to secure a spot in the Knockouts while it took Team Vamos the full five rounds to advance.
The first game was a battle of junglers as Muhammad Nazhan “Chibii” Bin Mohd Nor picked the consistently strong Suyou while 
Arthur “Sutsujin” Sunarkho picked his signature Ling. While the Indonesians won the jungler fight, Aeliff Adam Md “Smooth” Ariff and Rizky “Warlord” Agustian kept the Malaysians' hopes alive in the first game. But in the end, Schevenko David “Skylar” Tendean took over with his Granger to give RRQ Hoshi their first win of the series.
The second game was marred with an early troubleshooting pause that lasted almost an hour. However, once the game got rolling, there was a non-stop action from both teams. However, Chibi won the jungle fight with four kills in five minutes. If the first game was more slow-paced, the second was a bloodbath as fights and pickoffs happened all around the map – but it was Team Vamos that took the win and forced the series to a decider.
For the third time in a row, Gatot Kaca was picked, but this time, it was by RRQ Hoshi. It was also the third time that Suyou got picked by Chibi. However, it wasn't a contest between the two junglers this time, but a dominant performance by one gold laner. Skylar was arguably the most solid player in the tournament so far, and this game three can prove that statement. Skylar simply took over the game, forcing Team Vamos to expend resources to try and take him down. In the end, the lead was too great for Team Vamos to recover, thus handing RRQ Hoshi the 2-1 series victory.
The last series of the day was a rematch of the Swiss Stage matchup between Team Spirit and Team Liquid ID, where the former took the victory. But this time around, Team Liquid ID proved to be the superior squad as they got their revenge in the form of a 2-0 sweep.
Team Spirit kicked things off by picking a pocket Arlott for 
Mathaios “Kid Bomba” Panagiotis Chatzilakos to try to secure the EXP Lane from Aldhia “Aran” Aranda. However, the pick backfired as Team Liquid ID simply kicked Kid Bomba out of the game with eight deaths. With Team Spirit essentially playing with just four heroes, it was a walk in the park for Team Liquid ID to secure the first game.
The second game looked a little brighter for Kid Bomba as he tried to atone for his mistakes in the first game. He controlled the frontline of Team Liquid ID with his Hilda and secured a couple of kills. This game, however, became one to forget for 
Pak Anton “Hiko” Igorevich as he was the target of the cavalry's aggressiveness. With almost the same lineup from the previous game, Team Liquid ID achieved the same result as they continued to the upper bracket. Team Spirit must continue from the lower bracket.
Day two of the M6 World Championship Knockout Stage on Sunday (December 8) will feature the upper bracket semifinals, with all matches moving forward also becoming best-of-five series. Here are the matchups for day two of the Knockout Stage:
- Fnatic ONIC PH vs Falcon Esports
- RRQ Hoshi vs Team Liquid ID
Which team will emerge victorious and go one step closer to the grand finals of the M6 World Championship?
The M6 World Championship will take place from November 21 to December 15 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is split into three distinct phases: the Wildcard Stage from November 21 to 24, the Swiss Stage from November 28 to December 5, and the Knockout Stage from December 7 to 15.
Sixteen teams have qualified for the Swiss Stage after a gruelling Wildcard Stage. All participants will fight for their lives in the tournament, as only eight slots are open for the Knockout Stage. For everything you need to know about the M6 World Championship, check here.
