The yellow hedgehogs have done it.
Indonesia’s ONIC Esports successfully defended their MPLI crown after an intense reverse sweep victory over fellow MPL ID team Geek Fam, 3-2, at ONE Esports Mobile Legends Professional League Invitational 2022 (MPLI 2022).
Down 0-2, the MPL ID Season 10 champion were one game away from losing it all in the best-of-five grand final. But the team persevered and won the next three matches in dominating fashion. With the win, they are the first team to secure back-to-back trophies at MPLI.
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ONIC Esports prove their strength in the Land of Dawn with a dominant MPLI 2022 grand final victory
Geek Fam dominated games one and two on the back of gold laner Mohammad “Caderaa” Pambudi. He had a stellar 9/2/9 KDA on Bruno in the first game and 2/0/4 KDA on Beatrix in the second game that brought his team up to a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Backs against the wall, ONIC Esports spiced things up in the third game and picked Gusion for Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol to go along with the classic Atlas and Claude combo. On the other hand, Geek Fam drafted comfort Beatrix and Mathilda picks.
ONIC Esports’ wombo combo lineup was effective. At the 15-minute mark, SamoHt caught two with his Fatal Links ultimate, which opened up Kairi to burst down Geek Fam’s backline for a triple kill, as well as their first win in the series.
In the fourth game, Kairi went with Gusion once again, while Adriand “Drian” Wong locked in a unique midlane Akai. Geek Fam’s Allen “Baloyskie” Baloy countered the Gusion pick with Franco.
Kairi’s fast hands and quick reflexes proved to be difficult to counter. The regular season MVP was red hot with the assassin hero, and had a positive 7/3/3 KDA 10 minutes into the match.
SamoHT also played a big part in protecting Kairi, as he used Hurricane Dance whenever Geek Fam tried to get close to the backline in team fights. ONIC pulled away at the 14-minute mark after they secured the Enhanced Lord, which they used to push in the top lane to force the decider.
In the final game, Geek Fam decided to lock in Fanny to counter Gusion again on the side of ONIC. To counter Fanny, the yellow hedgehogs went with Moskov. This marked the first time the hero was used in the tournament.
In a surprise move, they put Gusion in the midlane for Drian while Kairi went with jungle Chou in an attempt to even out Fanny’s early game advantage. The move was a success, for they managed to stopped Fanny’s early jungle invades.
Despite the early game blunder, Geek Fam were slowly catching up in gold and experience. However, ONIC Esports were determined to end the game. They killed off the Enhanced Lord the moment it spawned 13 minutes into the match.
ONIC then marched to the top lane where Geek Fam’s only base turret remain standing. They dived into the tower to initiate a team fight, but retreated when SamoHt failed to hit his hook on Franco, resulting in the death of Muhammad “Butsss” Sanubari’s Benedetta.
That was the signal for Geek Fam to counterattack. However, Calvin “CW” Winata had a good position in the backline and was able to free-hit and deal maximum damage to all the members of Geek Fam, resulting in a wipeout and the reverse sweep victory.
Thomas “SamoHt” Obadja was proclaimed the grand final MVP for his heroic efforts in the roaming position. ONIC Esports will take home the lion’s share of the US$100,000 prize pool.
Presented to you by HSBC
Shoutout to the ones who aren’t afraid to work their way to the top! We hope this year’s MPLI has inspired you to achieve the impossible. Learn how your in-game skills can open up a world of opportunity for yourself in real-life.
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