Duane “Kelra” Pillas rose to prominence after leading Execration to the MSC 2021 Championship but his dominance felt like a distant memory as his team once again crashed out early in the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Although a similar result to their past playoff campaigns, ONIC PH’s loss hit Kelra differently as he was seen teary-eyed during the press conference.
“Nasasayangan lang ako sa team kasi ito talaga yung dream team ko. Si Frince kasi saka si K1NGKONG, dati ko pa sila gusto maging teammates sa Omega pa lang. Silang dalawa yung mga pinakagusto kong player dati pa. Dito na kami nabuo,” shared Kelra on why he was shaken after losing to Blacklist International and settling for fifth overall in Season 13.
“Ngayon kampi ko na pero same result pa rin kaya sobrang nalulungkot. Di rin kasi kami sigurado kung kami pa rin ba yung teammates next season.”
Hopes were high this season after Fnatic ONIC Philippines collected some of the promising up-and-coming players in the league with the acquisition of Kelra along with King “K1NGKONG” Perez.
It looked promising early in Season 13 after Kelra and company put together seven straight wins but struggled late in the regular season, suffering three losses in their last four matches.
Entering the playoffs, Blacklist looked the team that was more prepared as they secured very solid drafts that made it hard for FNOP to play their usual gameplay.
“Yung Carmilla jungle nila nabigla din kami kasi first time namin makalaban. Although ready kami sa pick nila na yun, nabigla kami sa gameplay kasi di namin nakakalaban sa scrim. Ang ganda rin ng combination ng heroes nila kasi maraming pwedeng magfollow-up sa Carmilla nila,” Kelra explained.
After a disappointing finish to FNOP’s “super team”, it remains to be seen if the team’s roster will remain intact for Season 14.
