After a thrilling end to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League – Philippines Season 4, SunSparks earned the right to be called champions.
SunSparks had a consistent showing in the Regular Season just inching out first ahead of Onic PH through points. Entering the playoffs, SunSparks had momentum on their side with an eight-game win streak.
SGD Omega was the first assignment SunSparks had and despite being going the full three games, SunSparks closed out the series. They earned their Grand Final spot after winning against Onic PH in the Upper Bracket Finals in three games.
The loss sent Onic PH to the Lower Bracket where they faced SGD Omega and dismantled them in two games. This set them up for a rematch against the SunSparks, a fellow rookie team in the league. SunSparks were poised to take the trophy, but Onic PH was hungry and seemed unstoppable.
SunSparks opened the Grand Finals letting Estes through, a comfort pick of Onic PH support, Jonmar “OhMyV33NUS_” Villaluna. It proved to be the undoing of SunSparks as they found themselves 2-0 and one game away from losing the championship.
With their backs against the wall, SunSparks took the Estes out of the picture with a ban and fought back to take Game 3. SunSparks showed good discipline and control throughout the match. Onic PH were forced to watch their base be destroyed in 10 minutes and 30 seconds. Momentum was on SunSparks but they were not out of the woods just yet.
The fourth game between the two rookie teams was an exciting one and started with Onic PH controlling the early game. Despite the lead and constant pressure, SunSparks found better success with pickoffs and clawed their way back into the game and into the base of their opponents. Onic PH fought back after killing the SunSparks’ Lord and wiping SunSparks out 23 minutes in the game. With top and mid inhibitor turrets down and just a sliver of health on their Nexus, Onic PH had one play: push mid and take the fight to the enemy Nexus. Onic PH was right up SunSparks’ front door but a timely Arrival from a freshly-respawned Rafflesia on Khufra allowed the boys in blue enough time to defend their Nexus while their Super Minions slipped through an unguarded top lane straight to the Nexus for the win.
The fifth and final game saw Onic PH ahead as well but this time around they were able to take every tower possible in the game. SunSparks turtled up and thwarted even the best efforts of Onic PH to close out the series and banked on their Granger player, Renz Errol “Renzio” Cadua to farm up for the late game. In the end, it was SunSparks’ Chou, Christian “Rafflesia” Fajura that played a vital role in securing the victory.
After a series where two games went down to the wire, we couldn’t help but ask the team how they dealt with the emotions through those types of games. In which they briefly answered,
“Nag cheer-up lang kami nang isa’t isa at tiwala din sa isa’t isa.” [We just cheered each other up and trusted each other.]
SunSparks not only secured the crown of Season 4 but also did so in epic fashion in the final two games. Along with this, they took home USD 25,000 (around PHP 1,292,000). Onic PH may have fallen short and settled with second place but they took home USD 13,000 (around PHP 672,000) as well as earned a spot alongside SunSparks at the upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship (M1) in November.