M6 World Championship UPDATE: Fnatic ONIC PH Defeat Team Liquid ID, Advance To Grand Finals

The Philippines, yet again, sends a representative to the M-Series Grand Final. Fnatic ONIC PH triumphed in the best-of-three series against Team Liquid ID in the M6 World Championship Upper Bracket Finals, advancing 3-1. This is the fifth time straight that a PH team made it this far in the M-Series.

Journey to the Grand Finals 

Just earlier this year, Fnatic ONIC PH was not a top contender to win any major leagues. Their fifth place finish at the MPL PH Season 13 made them seem unlikely to make an impact. However, things changed drastically after they changed their roster in the middle of rhe year.

Since then, the team proceeded to regain their form with the new lineup of skilled players from different backgrounds:

• EXP Laner – Jann Kirk “Kirk” Solcruz Gutierrez 
• Jungler – King Cyric “K1NGKONG” Perez
• Mid Laner – Frince Miguel “Super Frince” Ramirez 
• Gold Laner – Grant Duane “Kelra” Pillas
• Roamer – Borris James “Brusko” Parro

This roster quickly stepped back up to dominance, performing flawlessly in the MPL Philippines and eventually emerging as champions. This gave them their ticket to the M6 World Championship, along with fellow Filipino qualifiers, Aurora Gaming.

In the M6 World Championship, Fnatic ONIC PH has yet to truly struggle, their only close game being in the Upper Bracket Semifinals, where they scored 3-2 against Falcon Esports. Their flawless Swiss Stage run ended with a 3-0 record, and this quickly placed them among favorites to win, beside Team Liquid ID and RRQ Hoshi.

Fnatic ONIC PH vs. Team Liquid ID Series Breakdown

Game 1 went by like a breeze for Fnatic ONIC PH, with jungler K1NGKONG securing 10 kills immediately and shutting down Team Liquid ID. This set the tone for the whole game, which ended in only 11 minutes. Fnatic ONIC PH were especially soaring in teamfights, and in fact sealed the first game with no deaths at all.

In Game 2, Team Liquid were able to fight back with a strong performance from their gold laner, Aeronnshikii. While the early game went with pretty even fights, what made Team Liquid ID’s retaliation happen were the crucial Lord fights that helped them take down objectives. The game ended in 18 minutes with 13 kills to Team Liquid ID and 8 to Fnatic ONIC PH.

The third game was even more obviously dominated by Fnatic ONIC PH. Their first major advance was in the second turtle of the game, where they got three kills on top of the objective. Team Liquid ID couldn’t do much about their opponents’ map control, which just proved to be superior. After getting the Lord, Fnatic ONIC PH quickly destroyed Team Liquid ID’s turrets and sieged their base in 12 minutes.

Team Liquid ID were delivering a decent fight to hopefully even the score against Fnatic ONIC PH in the fourth game  The early to mid game once again was not going totally to either of the sides, with the gold and kill leads just catching up to each other. However, it was the fight around the third Turtle that gave the huge lead to Fnatic ONIC PH. Soon after, they got two Lords and brought ruin to the turrets and base of Team Liquid ID. The match ended at nearly 14 minutes, with a 19-10 kill lead to Fnatic ONIC PH.

With this, they denied Team Liquid ID a fifth game and secured their spot at the M6 World Championship Grand Finals.

Continuing a Legacy 

The Philippines, save for M1, have been in all and won 4 Grand Finals of the M-Series. Bren Esports, Blacklist International, ECHO, and AP Bren dominated the league consecutively, making history for Filipinos in MOBA esports. Should Fnatic ONIC PH win the upcoming Grand Final in December 15, they’d be the fifth team to continue the legacy.

Head coach Anthony “YnoT” Senedrin emphasized the team’s national pride, stating that they do not want to let the previous champions down. At M6, Fnatic ONIC PH seem to be determined to follow these footsteps and assert the country’s dominance in competitive Mobile Legends.

Conclusion 

Carrying the pressure of high expectations, Fnatic ONIC PH advance to the Grand Finals to hopefully clinch their first M Series title. The entire nation’s esports dreams are on their shoulders, along with the players’ own aspirations. It will be exciting to see whether they can live up to the standard set by the previous champions.

Meanwhile, they can rest and prepare for a few more days, awaiting their final opponent. For this spot, Team Liquid ID remains a candidate, as they also wait for their matchup in the Lower Bracket finals. This will come from the winner of the Team Spirit vs. Selangor Red Giants Lower Bracket Semifinals.

As M6 nears its conclusion, Fnatic ONIC PH s getting ready to dominate and bring the gold and glory home. Will the Philippines have another M-Series champion?