Loss to Indonesian sister team fueled Onic PH to top 'Group of Death', says skipper Baloyskie

SINGAPORE — Onic Philippines had a tough start to its Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M3 World Championship campaign, falling to its sister team Onic Esports of Indonesia on Tuesday here.

But that loss only prompted the MPL Philippines Season 8 runners-up to roar back and eventually win their two succeeding games. The Filipinos went on dominating Todak of Malaysia and Vivo Keyd of Brazil to finish at the top spot of Group B.

The twin wins also catapulted Onic PH to the upper bracket along with second-seed Todak.

According to team captain Allen Jedric "Baloyskie" Baloy, the setback against the Indonesians inspired them to go back to the drawing board and reset their mentality.

"We were hyped after the loss because we can't afford to lose the next two games. We immediately reset our mentality," Baloyskie said in the post-match press conference.

"Of course we are happy that we were able to meet our expectations even though it seemed like a do-or-die [situation] for us."

The 23-year-old Baloyskie added that he was actually surprised that Onic Esports wasn't able to secure its ticket to the upper bracket after the Indonesians fell to Todak and Vivo Keyd.

Onic Esports is dubbed as one of the strong contenders in the 16 team-field.

"We were really shocked. Actually, we were expecting that they (Onic Esports) will wipe out the group stage," Baloyskie said. "We were surprised that they lost to Vivo and also Todak. We expected tight matches from them." — LA, GMA News