Does the new ONIC have what it takes to overcome their mid-tier curse and become a super team?
It’s a new year, new season, new ONIC Philippines as they enter MPL PH S13 with something to prove. By bringing together some of the most promising players of last season, ONIC Philippines is looking to be more than a mid-tier team.
The big inclusions of the team this season are Grant “Kelra” Pillas and King “K1NGKONG” Perez. Jem Lanojan and David “BOSS A” Gamboa have been moved out of the bench and to the main team. Leading the squad is coach Anthony “YnoT” Senedrin with MPL veteran Patrick “E2MAX” Caidic and Abraham “Bam” Unida.
A common factor of all these members is that they’ve been part of teams with less than stellar finishes. Kelra, E2MAX, and coach YnoT were in Omega Esports last year and both Omega and ONIC barely made it into playoffs before dropping out in the first round. K1NGKONG was part of TNC Pro Team which bombed out at 8th place with a 3-11 match record. Unhappy with their performance, BOSS A and K1NGKONG talked over the offseason on how they could turn their fortunes around.
“Sabi ko, ‘K1NGKONG magandang plano yan, magbuo tayo ng super team!’” said BOSS A to the media. The team did also admit that they could all wind up in 8th place, a “super 8th place team” as they called it. Jokes aside, this camaraderie is a good sign for the team as their mentality is in the right place.
“Natutuwa din kami kasi kami ang laging laglag sa una,” continued BOSS A. “Nagkaka-samasama kaming lahat kasi ang hope namin ay hindi na same yung placing namin. Sana makaabot kami ng second at third round at makapunta ng mga international tournaments para maranasan din namin yun.”
Putting the Pieces Together
Coach YnoT sees the potential of ONIC Philippines in MPL S13 and knows how to act on it. “If we do it right, kaya namin kunin ang buong taon. We have the pieces, we have the players, basically mentality nalang and the game itself.”
The coach believes that there are two things the team needs to focus on for them to succeed this year. “Definitely discipline talaga, kasi I know that, based on the winning team, discipline ang unang mo makikita. Like the last M series, nakikita mo ang ginagawa ng AP.Bren. I’m not saying they’re repetitive pero nakikita mo na yung ugali nila ay smooth all throughout the game.
“Next is knowledge kasi mabilis magkaroon ng changes sa Mobile Legends so kailangan up to date lahat, especially the players. Kung last season magaling si Kelra mag Wanwan, mag Beatrix, doesn’t mean ganun pa rin.”
As for his expectations coming into this year: “At the end of the day, may magiging stereotype sa amin. Compilation ng mga nalalaglag kagad, pero if we go at it as a team, definitely lahat yun babasagin namin.”
Banner photo by Moonton Games.
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