MANILA, Philippines — Fnatic ONIC Philippines is the first Philippine team heading to the M6 World Championship after beating defending M-series world champions Falcons AP Bren, 3-1, in the best-of-five upper bracket finals of the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 14.
Fnatic ONIC showed pure domination, taking a 2-0 lead in the series. But Falcons AP Bren managed to prevent a sweep with a Game 3 win in after a 23 minutes. Fnatic ONIC, however, responded with a quick Game 4 victory, only needing nine minutes and 41 seconds to end the matchup.
With the win, Fnatic ONIC, secured its participation in the coming M6 World Championship in Malaysia this December. It would be the first M-series for the players of the team but not for its coaches Anthony "YnoT" Senedrin and Jeniel "YellyHaze" Bata-Anon, who last stepped on the MLBB world stage during the M2 World Championship when both had been part of Smart Omega.
In the lower bracket semifinals, Aurora eliminated Blacklist International with a quick 3-0 sweep to move on in the competition. The defeat sees Blacklist International at fourth place, beating everyone's expectation of a last-place finish as the team fielded a new roster this season.
The third day of the playoffs also saw the league acknowledge the top players of the season: All-Star Team 1 awarded to Grant Duane "Kelra" Pillas (Gold Laner, Fnatic Onic PH), King Cyric "K1NGKONG" Perez (Jungler, Fnatic ONIC PH), David Charles "FlapTzy" Canon (EXP Laner, Falcons APBren), Frince Miguel "Super Frince" Ramirez (Mid Laner, Fnatic Onic PH), and Joshua "Ch4knu" Mangilog (Roamer, Smart Omega); while All-Star Team 2 was composed of Marco Stephen "Super Marco" Requitiano (Falcons APBren Gold Laner), Andrew Lew "Andoryuuu" Flora (Smart Omega Jungler), Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya (EXP Laner, Team Liquid Philippines), Angelo Kyle "Pheww" Arcangel (Mid Laner, Falcons APBren) and Renejay "Renejay" Barcarse (Roamer, Aurora MLBB).
The Smart Fans' Choice All-Stars, as voted by the fans, went to Grant Duane "Kelra" Pillas (Gold Laner, Fnatic Onic), Jonard Cedrix "Demonkite" Caranto (Jungler, Aurora MLBB), Edward Jay "Edward" Dapadap (EXP Laner, Aurora MLBB), Kenneth Carl "Yue" Tadeo (Mid Laner, Aurora MLBB) and Joshua "Ch4knu" Mangilog (Roamer, Smart Omega).
Individual recognition included Andrew Lew "Andoryuuu" Flora of Smart Omega, while Fnatic ONIC Philippines secured top honors with jungler King Cyric "K1NGKONG" Perez securing the regular season Most Valuable Player and coaches Senedrin and Bata-anon being awarded as Smart Coaching Team of the Season.
The playoffs continue at 5 p.m. Saturday, October 19, with the best-of-seven lower bracket finals between Falcons AP Bren and Aurora.