KUALA LUMPUR — Filipino gold laner John “Innocent” Banal of the Selangor Red Giants emerged as the undisputed breakout star of the M6 World Championship.
Innocent claimed the M6 Breakthrough Player award after an impressive campaign in the world tilt, setting a couple of records and leading the reigning MPL Malaysia champions to a top-three finish.
The former TNC gold laner currently boasts an average of 837 gold per minute, the highest in the tournament. He also ranks second in average damage per minute (4,356) and fifth in KDA with a rating of 7.9.
Innocent edged out fellow Filipino King ‘K1NGKONG’ Perez of Fnatic ONIC PH, Anton ‘Hiko’ Pak of Team Spirit, and Sultan ‘AeronnShikii’ Muhammad of Team Liquid ID to claim the special award.
“I just want to thank our fans because they are always supporting us. We’re very lucky because we have great fans who always support us. You all are our buffs,” said the gold laner from Lubao, Pampanga.
The two-time MPL Malaysia MVP set a new M-Series single-game kills record in Game 3 of the lower bracket quarterfinals against RRQ Hoshi.
Playing as Granger, Innocent delivered 19 kills, surpassing the previous record of 17 set by Schevenko ‘Skylar’ Tendean in M4.
He is also the first-ever player in the M-Series to reach 100 kills in a single tournament.
Innocent also had the highest match MVP tally in the knockout stage as of posting time with a total of five.
Selangor is currently competing in the lower bracket finals against Team Liquid ID, with an opportunity to advance to the best-of-seven grand finals and achieve the historic first-ever Golden Road.
