RSG Slate Philippines relied on Eman “EMANN” Sangco’s dominant performance to once again eliminate Onic Philippines, 3-0, and set up an upper bracket match against Echo in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 11 playoffs at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City on Thursday.
With the win, RSG is now guaranteed a top-four finish for the third straight season since their Season 9 championship run. The sweep also mirrored their Season 10 match-up against Onic in the same stage of the playoffs.
Head coach Brian “Panda” Lim was visibly hyped and happy with his team’s performance during the broadcast, which also marked the debut of John Darry “Irrad” Abarquez in the playoffs. Irrad, known for his assassin picks, opted to use utility junglers in Games 1 and 3, where RSG dominated Onic in one-sided affairs.
“I guess it just really helped sa draft. For example if we have Kaja, then ibig sa ibig may isa pang pangharap talaga. So in that play, it really helps the team. You can’t really shine as a tank jungler masyado but at least you can help the team shine. Lalo na with the Kaja pick shining tapos yung marksman,” Panda on Irrad’s added hero pool.
RSG played a clean Game 1, finishing off Onic with an almost shutout 14-1 kill tally in just 15 minutes. EMANN (Karrie) led the way with a 7-0-2 KDA, highlighted by a maniac killing streak in the winding moments.
Game 2 boiled down to a 16th-minute macro play where Onic tried to burst down the lord, only for Irrad (Hayabusa) to steal the objective with timely retribution before scoring a double kill in the ensuing clash. Irrad went on to bag the match MVP with an 8-1-9 KDA to bring Onic to match point, 2-0.
EMANN once again delivered a scintillating performance in the close-out game and finished with a 7-0-3 KDA to lead RSG’s 16-4 lead on the final tally and complete the sweep.
