Despite securing a crucial victory over TNC, Omega Esports’ gold laner, Duane “Kelra” Pillas, still desires more from his team in the final stretch of the MPL Philippines Season 12 regular season as they strive to solidify their position in the playoffs.
The former MSC Finals MVP mentioned that the team tends to relax whenever they gain the upper hand in scrimmages against their opponents. According to Kelra, this must change if they want to avoid elimination and make it to the postseason.
“Kailangan mas seryosohin namin lahat ng practice namin kasi minsan parang pag nakakalamang kami sa scrim, nagrerelax eh, parang ‘di namin nalilinis yung laro,” said Kelra after Omega Esports’ 2-0 victory over TNC, which propelled them back into sixth place.
“Siguro mas doblehin lang [namin] yung effort. Linis laro lang, ‘yun yung dapat gawin,” he added.
With their playoff hopes slowly diminishing, the 18-year-old gold laner led Omega Esports past a determined TNC squad, which was already in a desperate bid to salvage its campaign.
Kelra delivered a clean 6-0-1 KDA (Kill-Death-Assist) line on Bruno in a closely contested Game 1 before concluding the series with a dominant performance on Wanwan, resulting in eight kills and nine assists against one death.
TNC started the series strongly, amassing an 11K gold advantage over Omega Esports by the 14th minute. Fortunately, the Smart-backed squad managed to endure long enough for Kelra’s Bruno to take control.
“Yung pinaka comms namin parang ano na, def lang ata yung comms namin nun eh. Alam naming kaya namin sa late game yung heroes ng TNC, alam naming kaya namin yung TNC sa late game. Pinatagal lang namin, binigay namin yung mga unang Lord,” said Kelra.
“Di ako magaling, may gigil lang kaya nagmukha akong magaling,” he added.
TNC, seeking an upset, managed to keep Game 2 close, but a crucial hook by Joshua “Ch4knu” Mangilog (Franco) on Cyric “K1NGKONG” Perez’s Martis in the final Lord fight allowed Kelra to activate his Crossbow of Tang and secure a double kill in the game-ending four-man wipe.
The victory placed Omega Esports in the sixth spot with 15 points, with a 5-6 win-loss record. However, not far behind is Minana EVOS, which currently holds a 4-7 slate with 13 points.
