With a much-needed break from intense Mobile Legends: Bang Bang action, Saturday 7 January saw the M4 World Championship resume with a highly anticipated match-up between Indonesian powerhouse ONIC Esports and the tournament dark horse, Falcon Esports from Myanmar.

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Falcon Esports vs. ONIC Esports

The opening match of the tournament featured an exciting battle between the champions of the Myanmar Qualifier, Falcon Esports and MPL Indonesia Season 10, ONIC Esports. Although many predicted the match to be tough, ONIC Esports managed to come out on top with a 3-0 victory. From the start of the first game, ONIC Esports dominated with their Gold Laner “CW” racking up an impressive amount of kills.

Game 1

Game 1 began with both teams extremely kill-hungry as both are teams that prioritise team fighting around objectives which meant that we were going to see a lot more action in the river rather than the lanes.

ONIC were able to gain an early lead in the mid lane gaining lane priority, which allowed ONIC to rotate between lanes and objectives much easier. Because of this control, ONIC were able to shut down Falcon Esports’ Roamer Naomi from making plays. While Falcon were even in kills, ONIC still had a gold lead which helped snowball them in the mid-to-late game. By the 15th minute, ONIC had a 10k gold lead which allowed their players to buy significantly stronger items which meant that they had a heavy advantage when team fighting. The perfect example of this was the final team fight in Falcon’s base where Falcon were completely helpless and were unable to take down a single member of ONIC. With that, ONIC were 1–0 up in the series

Game 2

Going into Game 2, the Burmans secured first blood during their second engagement with ONIC after the first ended in a lacklustre stalemate. Unfortunately, Falcons Esports were unable to capitalise and ONIC were ahead once again after acquiring their third Turtle by the seventh minute. From there Falcon were unable to stop ONIC from snowballing and by minute 17, ONIC were 2–0 up in the series.

Game 3

You would think that after losing two games in a row, you would change up your strategy but Game 3 saw Falcon Esports stick to their guns are did not distance themselves from their identity as a team fighting team and the early game was prevalent in this. By applying more pressure in the Mid Lane, with the help of Naomi and Kenn, JustiN was able to secure first blood within the first minute of the game. This was followed by yellowflash securing a second kill onto ONIC’s Kiboy 20 seconds later. From here on out, Falcon Esports would continue to stay in close proximity to one another as they attempted to try Mid Lane priority.

After Falcon claimed a second Turtle, the tempo of the game drastically slowed down thanks to ONIC knowing not to engage while the Burmans had a gold lead. Knowing this, ONIC remained patient as they slowly farmed and eventually caught up to Falcon. With nothing much going on around the map, Falcon opted to attempt to take the Lord but ONIC were ready for this and forced an engagement that would turn the tides of the game. After claiming the Lord for themselves, the job was done and Falcon would be sent down to the lower bracket while ONIC proceeds to the next round.

In the first and second games, Calvin “CW” Winata secured three triple kills, which determined the outcome of the match for ONIC. The climax came in the deciding match, as the Yellow Hedgehog team was overwhelmed. However, ONIC Esports managed to turn things around by successfully kidnapping the opposing Jungler.

This resulted in a complete 3-0 victory for ONIC Esports, and they advanced to the Upper Bracket. They will next face off against ECHO, who secured a dramatic victory over Team HAQ. The Upper Bracket semi-final match is scheduled to take place on Thursday, 12 January at 7:00 PM (UTC+8).

Will Falcon Esports be able to redeem themselves? We will see on 10 January at 3:00 PM (UTC+8) when they will face the winner of RSG Singapore and S11 Gaming.

ECHO vs. Team HAQ

The second and final match of the day saw ECHO advance to the upper bracket semifinals after a long and hard-fought match against Team HAQ which ended with a score of 3-2.The game was expected to be a very close match-up, although these two had never played each other prior to this. But no one expected it to be as close as it was, going all the way to a nail-biting Game 5.

Although ECHO was considered one of the strongest teams this season, it proved to be a difficult task for them to defeat Team HAQ. Despite taking an early lead by winning two points, Team HAQ fought hard to mount a comeback and were able to tie the match 2-2.

Game 1

Team HAQ started Game 1 with an aggressive invade into ECHO’s jungle where they got punished severely as Minn gave first blood to Sanji. The action didn’t stop there. At the 1:30 mark Minn dies again to a three-man gank with Yawi getting credited for the kill. As Panda returns to the Gold Lane, Yawi and Bennyqt dive him to secure their team’s third kill of the game. For the next couple of minutes, the game is still in contention but as ECHO claims the Lord and it looks as if they’re about to pull away, Team HAQ answers by engaging and taking down four of ECHO. The next 10 minutes go back and forth with both teams acquiring Lords of their own but in the 21st minute, ECHO took on the initiative to push down Team HAQ’s Mid Lane to take Game 1.

Game 2

The second match belonged again to the representatives of the Philippines, ECHO. Their victory in the first game had apparently boosted their mentality, as they started the match quite tough but ECHO’s compact play led by Bennyqt and his teammates was able to secure the next winning point with ease.

Game 3

With only one final step remaining for ECHO to advance to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, Team HAQ stepped up their game in the third match. They managed to take control of the match and dominated ECHO. There were multiple times the team from Malaysia dealt heavy blows to ECHO, but there were also times when the tide turned in ECHO’s favour. The match reached its climax in the 14th minute when Minnn was successfully picked off by the opponents.

This led to Team HAQ going on a rampage and trying to turn the tide of the game. One by one, ECHO players were taken out. Team HAQ saw this as an opportunity and with their efforts, they were able to get on the board. However, Bennyqt was left alone and was unable to withstand the attacks of the opponents and the team ECHO lost the match.

Game 4

The game heated up as the night went on, especially thanks to Team HAQ’s previous victory which fueled their passion even more. The Malaysian representative was like a breath of fresh air, providing hope for their survival in the upper bracket. The gameplay from Bennyqt was particularly frustrating as he often targeted key players from Team HAQ, overwhelming his opponents. The climax of the game came when all players focused on the Lord. “Panda” from Team HAQ attempted a back door, and ECHO’s Sanji hesitated to defend, allowing an opportunity for Team HAQ. This resulted in Panda‘s backdoor being successful, tying the series 2–2.

Game 5

In light of the two previous defeats, ECHO seems to have been more cautious in their approach in the fifth game. They used a hero lineup of Yve, Kaja, Yu Zhong, Brody, and Fredrinn. Meanwhile, Team HAQ attempted to counter it with Beatrix, Hilda, Xavier, Ling, and Chou.

Mann‘s Xavier made a strong impact at the beginning of the match, particularly with his kill on Yve as she was recalling. This certainly boosted the confidence of his team. However, this did not discourage ECHO, they played with more objectivity by gradually destroying the opponent’s towers.

With the help of the first Lord, the Filipino representatives were able to secure their victory. As a result, they will be facing ONIC Esports in the upper bracket semifinals.

In the end, ECHO was able to secure the victory and move on to the next round, where they will face off against ONIC Esports on Tuesday, 12 January at 7:00 PM (UTC+8).