Minana Evos capitalized on a mishap by RSG Philippines during the Game 2 draft to achieve a much-needed 2-0 sweep in the penultimate week of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 12 at the Shooting Gallery Studios in Makati City on Saturday.
Minana improved to a 4-7 record with 13 points, leapfrogging Smart Omega (4-6) with 12 points. On the other hand, RSG failed to secure an outright playoff spot.
“Dun sa Game 1, sobrang natutuwa kami sa backstage habang nakikinig kami ni Boss Banoobs dun sa comms. Kasi kahit lumalamang yung RSG kalmado pa rin sila,” said Minana head coach Jayson “Isonn” Casidid about the team’s mindset during the comeback win in Game 1.
Minana also caught a lucky break after RSG accidentally locked in an Aldous pick during the first phase of the Game 2 draft, which led to an easy win.
“Actually nagulat kami. Pero kitang kita kasi dun sa reaction nung player siguro na nakapag-lock nung hero,” he recalled.
“Pero sabi naman ng mga coaches na nagdadraft dun sa stage, wag magpakampante dun sa naging wrong pick ng kalaban. Nagpapaalahanan silang limang players sa stage na respetuhin nila kahit papano yung draft ng kalaban.”
The loss for RSG also propelled Echo to an upright upper bracket berth, with only AP.Bren as the only eligible pursuer, thanks to maximum points in the remaining matches this season.
After RSG took control of the early stages of Game 1, Ken “Kzen” Pile (Fredrinn) brought Minana back into the game by securing the 9th-minute lord.
Jan “DomengAR” Delmundo (Brody) then took over during the 16th-minute lord dance, scoring a double kill to lead a 4-1 exchange that won them the game.
In Game 2, disaster struck for RSG as a misclick during the draft resulted in a jungler Aldous for the Raiders, enabling Minana to secure a comfortable draft that covered all the game objectives.
Minana completed the sweep with a dominating 11-2 kill score on DomengAr’s (Beatrix) 5-1-2 KDA.
RSG (6-5) is stuck in fourth place with 17 points.
