Despite being heavy favorites, Kelra and Fnatic ONIC are staying razor-focused for the tournament.
Things are only going up and up for Fnatic ONIC Kelra as he and his team qualified for the M6 playoffs in a convincing 3-0 fashion.
As the champions of MPL Philippines S14, Fnatic ONIC have looked nigh unstoppable since the start of the season. They move like they’re two steps ahead of their opponents and that’s thanks to Grant “Kelra” Pilas.
Widely seen as the best Gold Laner in the Philippines, Kelra has been dubbed the “Gold Standard” by fans and analysts alike. However, Kelra doesn’t believe he deserves that title even though he was the finals MVP of MPL Philippines S14 and the day one and day four Swiss Stage Star in M6.
“Yung pagiging ‘Gold Standard,’ hindi ko pa rin siya naa-accept,” said Fnatic ONIC Kelra candidly. “Siguro magaling nga ako pero yung title ng ‘Gold Standard’ hindi pa rin ko siya tinatanggap.”
This likely comes from him being honest with his career so far. Early on, he made it to the 2021 and 2022 MLBB Southeast Asia Cup, taking first and third respectively. Since then his career stagnated and he was struggling to make it past fifth place in the MPL.
Yet the moniker of the “Gold Standard” stuck with him even during his struggling years. People could see he had potential far beyond what his record shows. Now he has a team that can really make him shine and a world championship is not just a possibility, it’s right within reach.
Staying on Target
It’s been nothing but win after win for Fnatic ONIC and the whole team feels it. “Sobrang confident kami. Every game nilalaro ng team ko, sobrang confident na mananalo kaming lima,” Fnatic ONIC Kelra.
One would think that this would lead to overconfidence but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The team is able to temper this confidence by narrowing their focus so they don’t lose sight of their goal.
“Sa pagiging champion, hindi pa masyado naming iniisip yan. Iniisip lang namin kung sino magiging kalaban namin,” continued Kelra. “Step-by-step kami mag-isip, hindi namin iniisip na ‘kayang-kaya na namin mag-champion kasi nag 3-0 kami.’ One game at a time talaga.”
Banner photo from MOONTON Games.