Fnatic ONIC PH, Aurora get contrasting results in M6 World Championship opener

Philippine teams Fnatic ONIC Philippines and Aurora Gaming had contrasting results on the opening day of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M6 World Championship Swiss Stage on Thursday in Malaysia.

The opener didn't disappoint with several favorites being served with upset losses by the underdogs as MPL Philippines Season 14 runner-up Aurora Gaming fell prey to Myanmar club Falcon Esports, 0-1, in their intense best-of-one affair. 

Falcon Esports, who had seen action in a number of international tournaments like M4 and MSC 2024 despite not having a professional league in their country, displayed its might against the Philippine bet with jungler Kaung "Daxx" Sett (Bane) securing the third lord at the 16th minute mark. 

Mid laner Yar "Px7" Mon (Zhuxin) then unleashed a double kill before his pickoff on Renejay "Renejay" Barcase (Guinevere) allowed the rest of their members to seal the victory. 

Px7's heroics saw him bagging the MVP honors after unloading seven kills and eight assists against just two deaths in their upset victory over the Philippine team that features veteran stars in Edward "Edward" Dapadap, Jonard "Demonkite" Caranto, Kenneth "Yue" Tadeo, Jan "Domeng" Del Mundo, and Renejay. 

Aside from Aurora, also on the losing end were Selangor Red Giants, the back-to-back MPL Malaysia champions and reigning MSC titlist, and NIP Flash, the three-time defending champion of Singapore. SRG and NIP Flash lost to Turkey's S2G Esports and Cambodia's CFU Gaming, respectively. 

Another Malaysian team Team Vamos bowed to Twisted Minds of Saudi Arabia. 

However, Fnatic ONIC Philippines lived up to its billing, making quick work of reigning MPL Indonesia champion Team Liquid behind spotless KDAs from gold laner Duane "Kelra" Pillas (Bruno) and jungler King "K1NGKONG" Perez (Suyou).

K1NGKONG unleashed five kills on his signature hero, including a double kill on Widy and his counterpart Faviannn during the last team fight at the base, while also collecting seven assists on the way to be claiming the MVP plum.

In the next round of Swiss Stage, all winners will be pitted against their fellow winners while all eight losers will also take on one another. Matches will be determined through a draw. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News