Fnatic Onic Philippines (FNOP) defied expectations and proved doubters wrong on their way to the world title and in the process improving their fortunes.
Not a few eyebrows were raised when they first announced their roster formed from a band of unproven players and a bunch of newcomers, yet FNOP kept their eyes on the big prize and shrugged off the doubts.
FNOP is a professional team composed of Filipino gamers who compete for the entire year in the local league called the MPL Philippines. As one of the Top 2 squads, the other being Aurora Gaming, they earned tickets to the World Championships held in Malaysia last December.
Its gold laner and the face of the franchise is Duane “Kelra” Pillas who was a troublesome player during his younger years. While he has an international title under his belt, there were questions on his ability to lead a team.
The roamer, Borris “Brusko” Parro, was a journeyman who failed to find his fortune away from home after getting cut from his former team in Indonesia. The jungler, King “K1NGKONG” Perez, meanwhile, came from a cellar-dwelling team from last season and while he had flashes of brilliance, he has yet to prove he can hold himself against the big dogs.
EXP-laner Jann “Kirk” Gutierrez and sixth man Brain “SpiderMilez” Santos hardly made their mark from previous teams while the midlaner Frince “Super Frince” Perez never had a group to help him improve.
Despite all of that though, they got a firm believer in head coach Tony “Ynot” Senedrin.
“I really just don't want to claim something that is in the future. It was more of staying in the moment every day. But with the capabilities that they have I just kept it to myself. The answer is I expected (winning the world title) from them,” said Ynot.
And that belief paid dividends ten-folds as they pocketed the lion’s share of the $1 million prize pool.
While game developer Moonton didn’t divulge how much FNOP won exactly, reports said that the champion bagged a huge sum of $320,000 or roughly around ₱17.9 million.
The players said they haven’t really thought of what they want to do with their winnings. All they know is that it would be life-changing.
“Ilalagay ko sa bangko ng anak ko ‘yung iba. (I will put some in my child’s bank account),” said Kelra, who is a young 18-year-old father to one-year old son, Slake.
“Invest siguro o kaya business siguro. Siguro ‘yung sa family ko, treat ko sila tapos kakausapin ko ‘yung magulang ko kung anong gagawin ko sa pera ko. Kakausapin ko sila na mag-business na lang para umikot ‘yung pera (I think I’d like to invest it or put it into a business venture. Maybe for my family, I will treat them, then I’ll talk to my parents if they wanted to have a business so that the money will continue to flow),” Brusko said.
Kirk, for his part, is mulling over the possibility of returning to school after that was briefly interrupted by his decision to go full-time as an MLBB pro-player.
They didn’t need to look too far to realize the fortune at their hands, knowing of world title-winning players before them who were able to provide the needs of their families.
Take last year’s world champions Falcons AP.Bren. It was the highest earning team in 2024 with gold-laner Marco “Super Marco” Requitano, Kyle “Kyletzy” Sayson and Rowgien “Owgwen’ Unigo topping the charts with similar $176,281.67 (₱10.3 million) earnings, while the two teammates occupied the Top 5 spots, according to Esportearnings.com.
Just recently, each of the players flashed their brand new cars in social media, after winning titles one after another on the international stage.
M3 world champion Johnmar “OmyV33nus” Villaluna, through the exploits and dominance of her former team Blacklist International back in 2021, purchased a lot in Antipolo City and built her dream gaming house.
While bringing home honor and glory is the main driving forces for the players and teams to continue competing and striving to stand at the apex of the MLBB Esports landscape, it cannot be denied that the fortunes that await them and the chance to change their lives for the better are also huge motivations for the young esports athletes.