By: Jan Marcus Montevirgen
Fnatic ONIC Philippines continues to dominate the ongoing MPL Philippines Season 14 tournament, and head coach Anthony “YnoT” Senedrin believes their win against Aurora on Thursday is just the first step toward achieving their championship goal.
In the post-match interview, Aurora’s head coach, Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani, praised YnoT’s abilities, offering no excuses for their defeat. He admitted that Aurora was simply overpowered by Fnatic ONIC’s superior draft and gameplay.
Upon hearing this, the 36-year-old ONIC coach responded humbly, attributing their success to the two-week break given after the eight-week regular season. He revealed that his team didn’t take any time off during that period.
“Yung sa akin, I think that’s why we’re here right? I mean yun yung reason kung bakit nag-break after regular season just to prepare [for the playoffs]. I am pretty sure na walang nagpahinga eh,” YnoT said.
“Even I think na sila ‘rin and these boys? They don’t care about the top seed. They don’t care about the Alamat Awards. I mean, it’s a bonus pero again hindi yun yung habol naming lahat. They came from different teams that lost several times, several seasons ago and we all believe na ito yung biggest chance namin para ma-reach yung first step ng goal,” he added.
With the win over Aurora, Fnatic ONIC now has a chance to secure the first grand finals slot of MPL PH Season 14 and become the first team to represent the Philippines at the upcoming M6 World Championship, provided they defeat Falcons AP.Bren in tomorrow’s upper-bracket finals.
Heading into the matchup between the top-seeded teams, YnoT remained cautious, refusing to predict the outcome despite having beaten AP.Bren twice during the regular season.
“Yun sa akin kasi ayokong mag-jump kung ano yung magiging result tomorrow. I think ang pinakamahalaga lang is yung mag-stay kami who we are. I do believe na, let’s say na may playoffs mode talaga [ang AP.Bren], I think their experience [will say na] magbibigay sila ng magandang laro,” he said.
YnoT also acknowledged how much AP.Bren has done to bring glory to the Philippines in various international tournaments but emphasized that it’s time for someone to challenge the reigning world champions on home soil.
“I really respect them for who they are kung ano yung ginagawa nila. To be honest, ako personally as a coach, I am very grateful sa AP.Bren kasi ilang beses na nilang dinala yung flag ng Pilipinas sa mga international events,” Ynot said.
“Pero I think it’s about time na someone challenge them dito sa Pilipinas. I am really eager to see yung full potential ng mga boys na ‘to. [I am] ready to believe na kayang kaya nilang i-prove ito,” he added.
