Onic PH and MPL PH Respond to Recent Re-Draft Incident and Fan Backlash

ONIC PH explains its side of the story regarding the re-draft issue during its match against Omega Esports in the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Philippines (PH) Season 8 Week 5. The issue has caused an outrage in the community with some fans accusing ONIC PH of abusing the re-draft to put Omega Esports at a disadvantage. Moonton has also posted an official statement, pleading for the fans to stop harassing the teams involved. Following this, the team’s coach Paul "Yeb" Miranda, and the manager of ONIC PH, Rafael Sanchez, hosted a livestream where they discussed what happened on their end when the incident occured.

ONIC PH Coach Yeb sheds some light on the re-draft issue in the MPL PH Season 8 Week 5

The coach explained on a live stream that they really did intentionally pick Aulus during the first drafting phase to prevent Omega Esports from counter banning the hero. However, instead of Aulus showing up, it was the hero Bane that showed up, which he states to be a known bug since last season that is yet to be fixed.

“Last season, there were a lot of bugs on the switch for the previous tournaments,” stated Yeb. “So we were told to avoid switching when picking a hero but it rarely happened during our streams.”

The coach continued, saying that the team’s manager, Milly, immediately informed the marshals about the bugged Aulus pick. "We all panicked because of the in-game countdown and we haven’t picked our third hero yet."

A back and forth discussion ensued which ended in the marshals asking the team to just continue the drafting process and pick the heroes they intended to pick. ONIC PH picked Kaja and Omega Esports responded by picking Beatrix on their side. This was then followed by a Mathilda and Rafela ban from Omega Esports to which ONIC PH responded with a Thamuz and Khaleed ban.

After the drafting phase was finished, the game was then paused and the issue was then discussed.

“This is what went on our side, I really don’t know what happened,” stated Yeb. The marshal said, "If you plan to replace Bane with Aulus because of the bug, Omega Esports will change its Beatrix pick,’ that’s what they said to Milly."

Yeb then stepped up to state his disagreement with the decision. The coach believes that Omega Esports had no right to change its hero picks since they were not the ones who are currently experiencing an issue in-game.

This forced the marshals to rethink their decisions which further delayed the game before eventually coming up with another alternative.

The marshals offered the team a chance to re-draft up until the Aulus pick. However, ONIC PH refused this offer.

“I don’t like that since they (Omega Esports) already saw our possible heroes to partner with Aulus. I don’t know what’s on their side. So, I refused,” stated Yeb.

Another discussion ensued which further delayed the game for a long time which ultimately resulted in a complete re-draft for both teams. Yeb stated that he thought Omega Esports did not know that the Bane pick was a bug, so it wasn’t ok to change it to Aulus.

“We were asked if the team would just continue the match or not. Then I said, the decision is yours if we should continue or change it to Aulus. Because they are the committee or the marshals, they can decide since they have a rulebook,” stated Yeb.

After another lengthy discussion, the marshals settled for a complete re-draft to make it fair for everyone. Then the match continued as usual which resulted in ONIC PH securing a 2-1 victory against Omega Esports.

Yeb clarified that he was explaining ONIC PH’s side of the matter and he has no idea what happened on Omega Esports’ side.

MPL PH releases an official statement regarding the re-draft issue

MPL PH also released an official statement on 26th Sept 2021, explaining its own side of the story by stating: "Fans should refrain from spreading more hate towards the teams and players and to stop harassing them as they are simply following the orders given by the marshals."

The league also assured the fans that it will do its best to improve the MPL PH and take the necessary steps to ensure that this issue never happens again.

ONIC PH pleads fans to stop harassing it’s members and start promoting a healthy esports ecosystem for Mobile Legends

After explaining their side of the story, Yeb explains how bad the situation is currently and the ongoing harassment that his team is experiencing following the re-draft incident.

“I just want to say to the MLBB fans and the MLBB community that we respect all teams and the fans. But please stop harassing my players and ONIC Management. Some of them are minors, I want the community to be healthy,” stated Yeb.

The coach added that this incident did help the team get closer to each other. However, the continued backlash and harassment from the community has stressed out ONIC PH’s players.

“The sad part is, I found out that the families of my players are also getting harassed. Guys, I know there is nothing wrong with being a diehard fan. But the thing is there’s always a line that should never be crossed, when becoming a fan means putting others down just to make your team look strong,” stated Yeb.

ONIC PH’s manager Sanchez ended the stream with a small statement, saying that the fans should be careful about what they say to other people, especially to the families of the pro players.