WITH PLAYERS from Onic PH posting openly about looking for a team as the league's July 8 transfer deadline looms, fans have been left wondering about the state of the renowned MPL franchise.
Some fans have even concluded that Onic PH is no more.
But according to an Onic Indonesia representative, that isn't the case.
"What I can say is that the org will continue as is but will be undergoing some changes," said Justin Widjaja, chief executive officer and co-founder of Onic Esports, the Jakarta-based parent company behind Onic PH, in an interview with Spin.ph.
Onic PH is undergoing a rebuild, says executive
This was confirmed by Paolo Pamintuan, the head of business development and strategic partnership at Onic PH.
“The plan moving forward is to rebuild Onic Philippines," he said to Spin.ph. "Not just from the MPL side of things, even on the management side of things. Essentially now namin siya sisimulan, actually this season.”
When asked about the state of the organization in the MPL scene, he affirmed that Onic isn’t going to let go of their MPL slot.
“Onic is not looking to sell the MPL franchise slot. It might have seen na yun yung naging direction ng Onic, but it’s not that case.”
He added: “That’s not totally the case that the players are going to be released, like hindi pa final iyon. We're both still looking at the options, kami ng country manager, kung ano yung best way moving forward, especially with the players.”
He then emphasized that the organization is looking at the best interests of all the parties involved.
“That’s the general idea, we’re just looking to rebuild now. Let’s see kung anong mangyayari with the players pero rest assured Onic management is looking out for the best interests of the parties involved.
“Aware naman kami na they have a livelihood, they have families that they take care of and ayaw namin na masayang yung passion nila.”
One of the solutions that the management had in mind was to help the players look for teams. Two sources close to the situation have confirmed to Spin.ph that organizations have been inquiring to Onic PH about the availability of their players.
Player movements and rumored NGX and Monster Anarchy deal
Pamintuan is not denying this development. “Actually meron lumapit sa akin, inquiring on their availability and right now we’re entertaining some of it. Pero just in case walang lumapit sa kanila to get them in their respective teams, ino-honor namin yung current agreement namin na player pa rin sila ng Onic.“
But besides talking about potential player movements, the team might also consider partnering with other organizations. Rumors have been swirling around that Galaxy Racer and Monster Anarchy are eyeing the team.
“As it stands now, wala pa kaming final engagement for Season 10. It’s still Onic operating on our own. As it stands now, talagang rebuild ang direction. If the rebuild entails partnering with someone, then that’s the direction that will go.
"Anything can happen so I’m not confirming nor denying anything with NGX and Monster Anarchy,” said Pamintuan.