ONIC Philippines edge out Team Spirit, advance to MSC 2025 semifinals
Photo from Esports World Cup
ONIC Philippines edge out Team Spirit, advance to MSC 2025 semifinals
RIYADH – ONIC Philippines move one step closer to another international title after surviving a tough four-game series against Team Spirit in the quarterfinals of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup 2025 at the Amazon Esports Arena.
The M6 world champions shrugged off a one-sided opening loss and bounced back with three straight gritty wins to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
Rough start, strong response
Team Spirit stunned the Super Family with a 13–2 stomp in Game 1, wrapping up the opener in under 14 minutes. Alexander “Oneshot” Sharkov’s Yi Sun-shin led the rout with eight kills and three assists, while Mathaios “Kidbomba” Chatzilakos backed him up with a kill and eight assists using Gloo. ONIC’s Jann Kirk “Kirk” Gutierrez struggled on the Phoveus, going 0/6/0.
Duane “Kelra” Pillas answered back in Game 2 with a strong Wanwan performance, racking up nine kills and five assists to level the series. Oneshot, this time on Akai, was neutralized with four deaths and no kills, while Anton “HIKO” Pak’s Moskov only managed one kill and an assist.
Kelra, Brusko turn the tide
Game 3 turned into a war of attrition, stretching nearly 30 minutes. HIKO and Kemiran “SunsetLover” Kochkarov kept Team Spirit in the fight with strong showings on Moskov and Pharsa, respectively, combining for 13 kills and 17 assists.
But Kelra turned the tide with a 14/3/5 masterclass, delivering clutch kills to hold off a late-game base siege. Borris “Brusko” Parro added a timely pickoff on HIKO with his Chou, ending the game and putting ONIC on the hill.
Clutch closeout
Team Spirit threatened a comeback in Game 4, but a 16th-minute engage led by King Cyric “K1NGKONG” Perez flipped the momentum. A full-team wipe left only SunsetLover to defend, but his attempt to burst down Kelra fell short. The Gold Standard took him down in return and led ONIC to a final midlane push to seal the series.
ONIC Philippines will face Malaysia’s Selangor Red Giants OG Esports in a high-stakes semifinal clash between the M6 and MSC 2024 champions.
Team Spirit exit with US$100,000 in prize money and 200 Club Championship points.
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