By: Jan Marcus Montevirgen
Coach Michael “Arcadia” Bocado, Archie “Pancake” Guevarra, and Red “Super Red” Bordeos made history in MPL Malaysia Season 12 on Friday.
The Filipino trio powered the Selangor Red Giants’ stunning 2-1 reverse sweep of reigning champion Todak to advance to the upper bracket semifinals at the Sri Putra Hall during the second day of the playoffs.
Aside from dethroning the perennial powerhouse, the Red Giants also snapped Todak’s three-straight appearances in the M-series. The three-time MPL MY champion had represented the country in the last three editions of the world tilt.
Idreen “Momo” Jamal’s Yu Zhong was the difference maker for Todak in the opener, executing a three-man Petrify at the bottom lane that ultimately gave the reigning champs a quick 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
Pancake then subbed in for Game 2, providing Selangor the much-needed leadership that allowed Super Red to take over and even the series following a triple kill in the 16-minute mark.
From there, the Red Giants flat-out dominated Todak in Game Three to complete the reverse sweep.
With two heroes down for Todak, Selangor easily took down the fourth Lord of the contest before eventually locking in on the former’s turrets to come out with a 21-7 victory.
The victory pushed the Red Giants to the upper bracket semifinals, where they will take on a Team SMG squad powered by Filipino imports Deomark “Mikko” Tabangay and Kenneth “Saxa” Fedelin later in the day at 5:30 p.m.
