After multiple seasons of rebuilding, heartbreak, and shortcomings, the super family is now sitting at the top of the world.
The Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, witnessed the rise of the new kings of MLBB as Fnatic ONIC Philippines have been crowned the M6 World Champions. The Sonics took the title after a 4-1 blitz against Team Liquid Indonesia, completing their sweep of the tournament.
The weekend of December 14 and 15 was already abuzz with excitement as fans were speculating which of the remaining three teams would face Fnatic ONIC. The supper family had already secured their spot after taking down Team Liquid earlier in the upper bracket finals. It was a fight between Team Liquid, hometown heroes Selangor Red Giants, and the dark horse Team Spirit.
On paper, these teams looked like they would be an even match against each other. In reality, it was nothing but clean sweeps leading to the grand finals. First with SRG easily taking down Team Spirit in the lower bracket semifinals. Then with Team Liquid against SRG in the lower bracket finals, crushing Malaysia’s hopes of a second international title.
It’s poetic, then, that we have another Philippines versus Indonesia grand finals with teams that have similar backgrounds. Both Fnatic ONIC and Team Liquid were seen as underdogs in their region until their most recent season. Despite the doubters, however, these two teams were still representing the two best MLBB regions in the world. They’ve proven their worth and one of them was going to walk away the M6 world champions.
Fortunately for Fnatic ONIC the power of family was stronger than the cavalry. They’re now the newest team to raise the M-series trophy and extend the Filipino era of dominance.
Reaching the Pinnacle
Becoming the M6 world champions was a long time coming for Fnatic ONIC, specifically for the Philippine squad. They made it to the grand finals in M3 but suffered a clean sweep against Blacklist International. Winning M6 also makes them the fifth unique team to become an M-series world champion.
For Grant “Kelra” Pillas, he can finally carry the “Gold Standard” moniker with pride. Not only is he now a world champion, he’s the first player to win the finals MVP award in the MPL, MSC, and M-series tournaments.
And for the rest of the world, this is the first time in M-series history where the top four were teams from four different regions. With the competition getting fiercer every year, it’s exciting to see what the next year has in store.
Banner photo from MOONTON Games.