01-08-2025
Onic PH edges Team Spirit in epic duel to punch MSC semifinals ticket
Duane "Kelra" Pillas proved why he is among the best gold laners in the world as he steered Onic Philippines to a classic 3-1 comeback victory against Team Spirit in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup quarterfinals on Thursday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Kelra, the MSC Finals MVP during Execration's title run in 2021, came through especially in Games 3 and 4 as Onic completed the reversal over Team Spirit to reach the semifinals. The win made Onic the second Philippine team to barge into the Top Four alongside Team Liquid.
"At this level of competition, I just revel on that, the termination of both games. I'm quite happy that we have that result, a bit sad for Team Spirit as we all know, they're a very strong team," Onic head coach Tony "Ynot" Senedrin said.
"But, yeah, as a coach you need to keep your composure. We need to look forward to the next game. But yeah, that was insane [game]."
Team Spirit flexed its drafting brilliance in Game 1, gaining the upper hand from the get-go with KidBomba's Gloo and SAWO's Khufra making life difficult for Onic jungler Cyric "K1NGKONG" Perez' Fanny.
The Russian club went on sealing the series opener in under 14 minutes with a lopsided 13-2 kill spread thanks to Oneshot's spotless 8/0/3 KDA on Yi Sun-shin.
Onic then returned to its old ways in Game 2 with Kelra going for a Wanwan pick and unleashing nine kills and five assists to help the Filipinos level the series.
Both teams then went toe-to-toe in a drawn-out Game 3 affair with Team Spirit seizing a golden opportunity to take the Lord objective after three Onic players—exp laner Jann Kirk "Kirk" Guttierez (Cici), mid laner Frince "Super Frince" Ramirez (Luo Yi), and jungler K1NGKONG (Joy)—were taken off the map.
Team Spirit, however, decided to push at the top lane instead, allowing Onic to flip the script behind Kelra (Granger). The multi-titled gold laner almost single-handedly led the Onic defense, picking off SunsetLover (Pharsa) and Oneshot (Baxia) before he and roamer Borris "Brusko" Parro finished the game that lasted for 29 minutes and 37 seconds.
Still high in spirits, Team Spirit looked like it could drag the game into a Game 5 after shattering all but one of Onic's turrets that enabled them to invade the Philippine bets' base at the 13th minute of Game 4.
Onic, though, mounted a massive defensive stand before gradually swinging the momentum in its favor, capped by a Maniac display from Kelra (Granger) that wiped out Team Spirit and sealed a thrilling come-from-behind win.
Onic will take on defending MSC champion SRG of Malaysia later at 5 p.m. with the winner advancing to the grand finals against either Team Liquid or Onic Indonesia.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
