When Deomark “Mikko” Tabangay struggled in the early parts of the season and earned the ire of dissatisfied Omega Esports fans, veteran offlaner Renz “Renzio” Cadua was there by his side to help him get back on his feet.
So, when Renzio was put in the same position following the team’s crucial 0-2 loss to Blacklist International in Week 6, Mikko made sure to be by his mentor’s side as well to return the favor and lift him up.
“Sobrang laking tulong po sakin ni kuya Renz inside and outside the game. Kunwari may problema ako sa bahay or personal, pwede ko siyang lapitan saka kausapin,” Mikko told Tiebreaker Times after Omega Esports’ bounce back win against Nexplay EVOS.
“Tapos in-game naman po siya po yung nagpapalakas ng loob ko, isa siya sa nagbu-boost sa akin. Kunwari nagkakamali ako sa Flicker, siya yung nagsasabi sa akin na ‘best friend hayaan mo okay lang ‘yan, focus ka lang sa game’ mga ganun. Sobrang laking tulong niya sakin,” he continued.
Knowing how important Renzio is to the team’s campaign in the MPL Philippines Season 11, the former Omega Academy standout made sure that Renzio, who was disheartened at the time, would not dwell on what transpired in their loss to the defending champion.
According to Mikko, he sat beside Renzio during the team’s ride back to the bootcamp last March 25 and compared harsh comments with the two-time MPL Philippines champion which lifted his spirits.
(C) MPL PH
“Ako nung una dinidibdib ko talaga yung mga bashers, pero ngayon sabay kaming nagbabasa ng comments. Kunwari nung natalo kami sa Blacklist, magkatabi kami sa van tapos sabay kami nagbabasa ng bash tapos palalaan kami,” shared Mikko.
“Kunwari may mag-sabi sa kaniya na matanda na siya, mag-retire na siya so papakita niya sakin tapos ang gagawin ko ipapakita ko yung sakin tapos sasabihin ko ‘tignan mo yung akin oh, mas malala’ so ganun. Para hindi niya rin dibdibin, pinapatawa ko rin siya,” added Mikko, before bursting into laughter.
On Saturday afternoon, Renzio delivered a huge bounce back performance for Omega Esports, leading the team to a 2-1 reverse sweep win over Nexplay EVOS which allowed them to improve their standing to 5-7 – good for fifth place – and gain a slight edge over ONIC PH (4-8), Nexplay EVOS (3-8), and TNC 3-9).
(C) MPL PH
The former Sunsparks star saved his best performance in Game Three where he used his signature Masha and constantly hounded Dominic “DomengDR” Delmundo’s Beatrix. Renzio ended up with four kills and three assists against four deaths.
“Yung call namin nun [last play ng Game Three] wala na e. Si kuya Renz parang kakaiba na e, sumisigaw na lang e. Wala ng call, sumisigaw na lang ng ‘Bespren! Bespren!’ kung ano ano na lang sinasabi,” recalled gold laner Duane “Kelra” Pillas.
“Sobrang laking tulong sa amin lalo na bumalik na yung confidence niya. Sobrang importante samin lalo na crucial yung mga susunod na laro so maganda yung timing sana magtuloy-tuloy na,” chimed Mikko.
