Cover-Credits:
The first match series in the fifth week of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines (PH) Season 9 saw ONIC PH with a surprising Melissa pick during Game 2. However, as the team’s gold laner later revealed, it was just a communication issue that gave the team a hard time during the second game. The Melissa pick became a problem for ONIC PH instead of an advantage. Despite this, the team was able to pull off a 2-1 victory against the defending champions, Blacklist International. This was the first time the recently released hero, Melissa was picked in the MPL PH Season 9.
ONIC PH takes home another match win as Blacklist International remains at the bottom
Blacklist International had the early game advantage with Kent "KEVIER" Xavier Lopez’s Lancelot and Kiel "OHEB" Calvin Q. Soriano’s Kimmy limited ONIC PH’s objective securing potential and rotations. However, ONIC PH stood firm thanks to Allen "Baloyskie" Jedric Baloy’s Franco. While Baloyskie was not able to land a lot of hooks, the few times when he was able to grab an opponent ONIC PH capitalized on those opportunities in team fights and secured their first win of the series.
In the second match, ONIC PH opted for a surprising Melissa pick, marking the hero’s debut in the MPL PH Season 9. Unlike the first game, ONIC PH lacked the capability to counter Blacklist International’s physical and magic damage combo. With Oheb’s Kimmy having the most resources secured, the defending champions cruised through the objectives and pushed the turrets to finish the game with a victory and opened up a third deciding match for the series.
In the final deciding match, ONIC PH’s Gerald "Dlarskie" Trinchera served as the team’s stone wall with his Uranus. ONIC PH managed to withstand continuous pressure from Blacklist International up until the late game when a crucial team fight at the 30-minute mark took place at the lord pit. Despite Blacklist International's desperate attempts to gain control of the team fight, ONIC PH was able to take down OHEB, who was the defending champion's last hope of turning the tides. The match series ended with ONIC PH securing a 2-1 victory.
Markyyyyy explains that the Melissa pick was a miscommunication due to a faulty headset
Through a post-match interview, ONIC PH’s gold laner, Mark "Markyyyyy" Christian Capacio revealed that Melissa’s debut in the MPL PH Season 9 was just a miscommunication issue from the team.
“I wasn’t able to join in on the draft because of my headset. Our coach was making me pick a hero so I panicked and picked Melissa,” stated Markyyyyy.
As much as the team wanted to rest the drafting phase due to a technical problem, the match had to go on as Markyyyyy had already picked the hero. The gold laner further added that Melissa could have worked but he had a hard time due to the lineup both team's used during the second game.
“I think it was ok, but it was difficult for that lineup that’s why I had a hard time. Their (Blacklist International) lineup can easily reach me,” Markyyyyy explained.
Despite the drafting issue during the second game, ONIC PH was able to secure the win in the match series. The team is aiming to keep its momentum going as it is now set to go up against Nexplay EVOS on 20th March.
Keep up with the live scores, schedule, stream links, and more with AFK Gaming's hub for the MPL PH Season 9.
