Image: GosuGamers
A Filipino team taking the Mobile Legends world title for the fifth-straight year is looking like a very real possibility.
The fourth day of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M6 World Championship Knockout Stage saw one team advance to the grand finals while two others had their run in the tournament ended. 
Fnatic ONIC PH defeated 
Team Liquid ID in the upper bracket finals to get one step closer to claiming this year's MLBB world title.
Meanwhile, 
Falcon Esports and 
RRQ Hoshi were knocked out in 5th-6th place at the hands of 
Team Spirit and 
Selangor Red Giants (SRG) in the lower bracket quarterfinals.
Here are the results in day four of the M6 World Championship Knockout Stage:
Fnatic ONIC PH advance to grand finals while Falcon Esports, RRQ Hoshi go home
The first series of the day was a showdown between Spirit and Falcon. Both teams have exceeded everyone’s expectations for them in M6, particularly Falcon Esports. While Spirit were still fresh from their win against 
Team Vamos, Falcon were looking to bounce back from getting dropped into the lower bracket by Fnatic ONIC PH.
When facing Team Vamos, Spirit coach Vrendon “Vren” Lin picked a very unorthodox lineup with three junglers. However, in the first game against Falcon Esports, the draft was very tame in comparison. Vren picked Belerick for 
Stanislav “SAWO” Reshniak and Bane for Alexander “Oneshot” Sharkov in response to Falcon’s Phoveus and Alpha. The plan to grind down 
Ar “Royal Milk” Kar worked perfectly, as the EXP Laner couldn’t maximise Phoveus’ utility. With no threat, Oneshot melted the enemy lineup with his Crab Claw Cannon to give Spirit the opening win of the series.
In the second game, Vren took a page from Team Vamos by picking Hayabusa for Oneshot and tasked him with assassinating the backline of Falcon Esports. The Burmese representatives maintained their core lineup, only changing Beatrix with Granger. While Falcon didn’t change their lineup too much, the radical change on Spirit worked perfectly for them as they dismissed the enemy Zhuxin and Granger to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
For game three, it was time for Falcon to change things up as they picked Fredrinn, Chip, and Cici to fight the Hayabusa. The matchup between Cici and Hayabusa was similar to when Vamos’ Hayabusa quickly dismantled 
S2G Esports’ Cici. However, the reverse happened as Royal Milk’s Cici was more disciplined and read the Hayabusa's movements, ensuring he took someone to the grave every time a gank occurred. With Spirit unable to snowball, it was Falcon's time to shine as Bruno took over the game to extend the series to a fourth game.
In game four, Spirit dropped the Hayabusa in favour of Suyou. They also took Wanwan for Pak Anton “Hiko” Igorevich and a frontline of Gloo with Gatot Kaca. Falcon Esports, who relied on Ling to dismantle the enemy backline, couldn’t comfortably gank as the Avatar of Guardian from Gatot Kaca rendered his mobility useless. In the late game, Falcon Esports couldn’t handle the aggressiveness of Gatot, Suyou, and Gloo to peel for Min “Beni” Swan’s Harith. And one siege later, Spirit claimed the 3-1 series victory to advance further in the lower bracket.
After the series, GosuGamers asked Kid Bomba who he wanted to face next, with Spirit's star EXP Laner saying he wanted to face RRQ Hoshi to avenge their loss in the previous series. Unfortunately for Kid Bomba, he won't be getting his preferred matchup in the lower bracket semifinals.
The second series of the day pitted RRQ Hoshi and SRG. The first game saw the return of Edith roamer as 
Muhammad “Yums” Suhairi took the hero to counter 
Hajirin “Rinz” Arafat’s Odette. While Odette gave the teamfight damage RRQ Hoshi needed, Edith provided a way to disable that damage with her crowd control. When the late game came, 
Vincent “Innocent” Banal’s Bruno simply melted everyone from the side of RRQ Hoshi to give SRG their first win of the series.
The signature Guinevere roamer pick returned in the second game of the series. RRQ Hoshi took another unconventional pick as Alfi “Khezcute” Nelphyana got Kadita for Rinz. If the previous draft from Khezcute was teamfight-centric, this one focused on getting pickoffs with Joy and Kadita. The plan was a resounding success as the burst from Rinz was enough to one-shot everyone from SRG except the Gatot Kaca. Ultimately, the burst in the early game was enough for RRQ Hoshi to tie up the series at 1-1.
The following two games between both teams can be summarised as a one-man show by Innocent as RRQ Hoshi left the Granger open for him to take. Perhaps it could be taken as a lesson for the rest of the teams in M6 not to let SRG take Granger, as no one could touch Innocent on the hero.
Innocent won the third game for SRG with a historic 19 kills and zero deaths in 15 minutes. He masterfully played the distance game against Said Ali “idok” Ridho’s Jawhead and Schevenko David “Skylar” Tendean’s signature Claude. In the fourth game, the same thing happened: Innocent ended the game with 13 kills and no deaths, completely outranging Bruno and Pharsa and rendering them useless. It was a massacre and another outstanding performance by Innocent to keep SRG's hopes for the golden road alive.
After the game, Khezcute told GosuGamers that they left the Granger open as he believed that Bruno could handle the hero based on their scrimmage results. But what happened in the field was a different case altogether.
The last series was a rematch between two MLBB Professional League (MPL) champions. The MPL Philippines Season 14 champion, Fnatic ONIC PH, faced Indonesia’s best, Team Liquid ID, in the upper bracket finals to determine the first team advancing to the grand finals of the M6 World Championship.
Being the favourites to win the tournament, Fnatic ONIC PH showed precisely why they are worthy of the title after completely dismantling Team Liquid ID in the series' first game. The Filipino squad's dominant started from the draft with Cici, Yve, and Alpha taking down the opposing Novaria, Mathilda, and Suyou combo to the execution in the game itself; it was a taste of what MLBB’s finest can do, as Fnatic ONIC PH ended the game inside 11 minutes.
While everybody expected a repeat of game one, game two saw Team Liquid ID have their say against the MPL Philippines champions. Dolly “SaintDeLucaz” Pelo picked Chip and Claude as Team Liquid ID's dynamic duo this time, with the pair providing trickery to the lineup as the roamer could quickly bring reinforcements while Claude provided the damage in teamfights. It took a grueling 18 minutes, but Team Liquid ID managed to take one game against Fnatic ONIC PH.
One loss was enough for Fnatic ONIC PH to return to their peerless form, as they reclaimed the Yve pick from Team Liquid ID for Frince Miguel “Super Frince” Ramirez. This time, however, they completed their frontline with Hylos and Tigreal to form an impenetrable wall in front of Super Frince. With King “K1ngkong” Perez playing as the perfect bait, the Yve simply controlled everyone with Real World Manipulation to push Fnatic ONIC PH to series point.
The fourth and last game of the day was a show of K1ngkong’s cold execution in a tense situation as he finally got his hands on Suyou. From the get-go, K1ngkong took control of the game with a lightning-fast clear of the jungle and insane damage potential. His timely ganks on all of Team Liquid ID’s lane made the game almost unplayable for the cavalry. It was no longer a matter of who would win in the fourth game, but when Team Liquid ID base would fall. Fnatic ONIC PH closed out the 3-1 series victory in just under 14 minutes of action to become the first grand finalists of the M6 World Championship.
Day five of the M6 World Championship Knockout Stage will continue the lower bracket runs of Selangor Red Giants and Team Spirit. The winner of their lower bracket semifinals match will face Team Liquid ID in the lower bracket finals, while the loser will be eliminated. Here are the matchups for day five of the Knockout Stage:
- Selangor Red Giants Vs Team Spirit
- Team Liquid ID Vs SRG/TS
Which team will join Fnatic ONIC PH in 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.
