ONIC Philippines kept their upper bracket hopes alive after outlasting Smart Omega in a hard-fought 2-1 victory during the final week of the MPL Philippines Season 15 at the Green Sun Hotel in Makati City on Saturday.
With the win, ONIC improved to a 10-3 record and now faces a crucial regular season finale against Twisted Minds. A 2-0 sweep, combined with a loss by Aurora against Falcons PH, would propel the Sonics into the upper bracket.
Head coach Tony “Ynot” Senedrin commended his wards for showing resilience especially during a close Game 3 encounter.
“Sobrang clutch and yung line up kasi na binuo namin medyo conditional. I think maganda naman yung naging execution ng team. Meron ka lang mga kailangan iwork out pero again, yung resilience kasi nandun eh. Yung umabot ka sa point na andami mo nang plays na iba-iba na nakikita na hindi mo nakikita sa mga normal na matches. So good job (sa team),” explained Ynot.
Jomari “Jowm” Pingol (Bruno) led Omega’s opener dominance as he completed a maniac killing streak in the winding moments of Game 1 for a lopsided 15-5 kill score.
ONIC bounced back in Game 2 with sharp mechanical outplays in Game 2. A pivotal 4-2 exchange during a 14th-minute base turret siege — highlighted by Duane “Kelra” Pillas’ (Wanwan) double kill — swung the momentum in their favor and forced a decider.
In the final game, Kelra (Harith) came up clutch once again, delivering a critical defensive triple kill to snuff out Omega’s comeback attempt and secure the series win.
Omega finished with a league-worst 2-12 record and missed the playoffs, a stark contrast after finishing with the third-best regular season record in the previous season.
