Onic Esports have successfully lived up to the audience’s hopes as they achieved their historic victory in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2023 last night. In the midst of the excitement, Nicki “Kiboy” Fernanda showed his worth as the most valuable player in the competition.
The yellow hedgehog became one of the favorites team of the crowd and pundits at MSC 2023, thanks to their amazing track record in the MPL ID Season 11 and the in-form superstar Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol, who improved significantly from the previous season. Furthermore, many believe that Onic will be inspired to win the MSC 2023 after their defeat in M4 in January.
The prediction was correct. Onic Esports successfully eliminated their opponents during the group stage to the playoffs. The excitements rose when they defeated one of the Philippines’ favourites and M4 champion Echo Philippines in the most intense and longest match in MSC history, with their third game lasting up to 40 minutes.
Blacklist International, their opponent in the grand final, on the other hand, were frequently chastised for employing techniques which deemed as irrelevant to the current meta. However, their ‘outdated’ gamestyle have proven difficult to overcome for most teams. Furthermore, their winning mentality made them harder to defeat.
The grand final demonstrated their mental fortitude. Onic Esports easily defeated Blacklist in the first two games, thanks to outstanding performances from Gilang “Sanz” and Kairi. Despite this, they seemed unfazed by Onic’s brutality and kept trying to catch up. In the third game, Blacklist played it safe and the duo Johnmar “OHMYV33NUS” Villaluna and Danerie “Wise” Rosario successfully created space for their teammates to put pressure on the Onic players. Blacklist reduced the gap to 2-1 in 20 minutes.
The same situation repeated in the next two games. Onic Esports outperformed Blacklist again in the fourth game, but Blacklist refused to give up and fought back in the fifth game through Howard “Owl” Gonzales’ Claude. While Blacklist appeared to be on the verge of turning the tide, Kiboy emerged as a key player who saved Onic in the deciding match.
Kiboy played his part to perfection during the MSC grand finals and shone brightly in game six, where he endured the Blacklist’s assaults and shielded his core in a crucial teamfight. In approximately 14 minutes, Onic got Blacklist cornered by dominating the mid and bot lane. Blacklist who was overwhelmed by Onic’s pressure finally conceded in the 18th minute.
This victory was Onic’s second victory in the MSC competition and Kiboy, who was praised as one of the best roamers in this competition, was crowned the MSC 2023 MVP. During the interview, however, he believed that Kairi was more deserving of the award and stated that he does not care about the MVP award, which he deemed less significant than his team’s victory.
