Onic PH made world champion and reigning MPL king Bren Esports bleed, coming through with a 2-1 stunner to start its MPL Philippines Season 7 on a high note on Saturday night, March 20.
After taking a beating in the series opener, Onic pulled off a come-from-behind victory in Game 2 before demolishing the M2 winners behind Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol's Lunox in Game 3.
The two-time MPL runner-up ushered in the new era without its longtime duo Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario in a victorious manner.
With the early shocker, Onic bagged two points while Bren only got a lone point in Group A.
Bren actually barely broke a sweat in taking Game 1 as M2 Grand Finals MVP Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomunceno on his Benedetta slayed his way to a dominant performance and powered an 18-10 romp in 15 minutes.
KarlTzy unleashed over 75K damage en route to 10 kills and three assists against a lone death. Captain-mage support Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel also stepped up on his Silvanna with 14 assists.
But Onic refused to die down and accomplished an amazing comeback 27-21 win in 21 minutes against Bren's Esmeralda-Angelo duo of David "FlapTzy" Canon and CJ "Ribo" Ribo.
As Onic clawed its way back into the game with Jay's Chou setting up favorable trades, Iy4knu's Alice stood strong and took all five Bren heroes when Pheww's Luo Yi made a Diversion play to chase the fleeing Onic at the river area in the 20th minute.
That paved the way for Jaylord "Hate" Gonzales' Roger and Kairi's Lunox to dish out massive damage and wipe out Bren before going straight for the base.
It was a different story in the deciding Game 3 as Kairi proved to be a monster on his Lunox.
The 15-year-old prodigy came through with a perfect record of eight kills and two assists to spark Onic's 16-4 victory in just 13 minutes.
Jay's signature Kaja also shone with 10 assists and two kills even as Gerald "Dlar" Trinchera's Uranus finished with four kills and nine assists while serving as the damage soaker.