MINANA Evos leaned on rookie Jann “Kirk” Gutierrez’s brilliance to snap a four-game losing streak with a 2-0 sweep of Smart Omega in Week 3 of the MPL Philippines Season 13 on Sunday at the Shooting Gallery Studios, Makati City.
MINANA improved to 2-4 with seven points, tying Blacklist International for fifth place, while Omega fell to a 0-6 record with only one point to show.
According to coach Deejày “ImbaDeejay” Astibe, the break actually helped MINANA address the issues that led to a series of losses.
“Pinolish lang namin yung mga errors nung nakaraan sa players saka sa strategy naming coaches. Kumbaga, lahat nung mga mali, inayos namin para sa mga susunod na laban namin kasama na yung Omega,” he said.
Kirk (Cici) sparked MINANA’s shutout victory in the opener, securing a 14-minute win with a 9-0 kill score. Kirk finished with a stellar 3-0-3 KDA.
Game 2 was a closely-contested match-up, but MINANA’s poise proved fatal as they relied on their early-game advantage to overcome Ron Matthew “Matt” Papag’s 5-1-3 KDA explosion with the Fanny pick.
Kirk (X.Borg) once again claimed MVP honors with a 2-2-5 KDA.
“Sinabi ko sa kakampi ko na maintain lang namin yung lamang namin since wala namang nangyari masyado nung early. Passivehan lang. Pag midgame kasi lalamang na kami,” said skipper Brain “SpiderMilez” Santos on how he controlled the team in Game 2.
MINANA will next face ECHO on Saturday, April 12.
