On April 28th , in the second series of the first day of MPL PH season 9 playoffs Onic PH eliminates fan favourites Nexplay Evos in a close full five game series with a score of 3-2.However the biggest talking point in this series aside from the games itself is the late the start and finish of the series, match 1 was supposed to start around 9:45 but due to technical pauses the beginning started over an hour later almost 11:00 pm, combined with more pauses while in game, and the length of each match the event ended well over 2:00 am.
Once the series went under way, game 1 was a lopsided affair as Onic tried to pull off a lineup similar to what Blacklist international would use unfortunately, the leadership of Jeniel”YellyHaze”Bata-Anon on his Yve pick and the great positioning and calls of Rhaniel”Ureshiii”Logronio and his surprise Akai pick on the EXP lane would lead to a dominant game 1 win.
In game 2 Onic PH would tie up the series with a calculated and slow decimation of NXPE’s lineup, from the get go the disruptive playstyle of Allen”Baloyskie”Baloy would throw of NXPE jungler Michael”MP the King”Endino and would delay his jungling rotation giving the advantage to Onic PH. Come midgame it would be Jaylord”Hatred”Gonzales of Onic PH would be the deadliest player on the field as his Xavier would provide crowd control and burst damage safely from the backline while Gerald”Dlarskie”Trinchera soaks up damage protecting his Onic teammates leading to a tie series at 1-1.
In game 3 it would be the same story for, a disruptive start from Baloyskie’s signature Natalia hero proove to be deadly as NXPE’s rotation would be fully exposed from the Natalia’s roaming, this provided the space for Kairi”Kairi”Rayosdelsol on the Barats to farm up for items and be an unkillable tank jungler, to slowly but surely cripple NXPE for the 2-1 series match point.
Game 4 would proove different as NXPE would make a substitution as John Paul”H2WO”Salonga would enter the game in place of MP the King and this substitution would proove to be effective as the veteran presence and mastery of the jungle role H2WO would be unfazed by Onic’s early jungle disruptions, NXPE roamer Kenneth”Cadenza”Castro on the Franco would step up in this game providing good pick offs and easy kills to secure for for their gold laner Mariusz”DONUT”Tan to scale up and provide burst damage leading to a do or die game 5 as NXPE ties the series up 2-2.
Do or Die game 5 would be the closest and longest game in the series, as both teams traded kills and objectives back and forth, dragging the game into the 20 minutes plus mark. Come late game it would be the clutch pickoffs of Baloyskie’s Franco would provide openings for the Onic squad to slowly get the lead as Onic gold laner Mark”Markyyyyyy”Etcobanez would scale in the late game on his Claude giving the burst damage Onic PH needed to tip the scales into their favor and secure the series win 3-2.
Although the match ended at 2:00 am Onic PH will have no time rest and take it easy as they will face the top seed kingslayers RSG PH in second series of the second day of MPL PH season 9 playoffs.
