RSG Philippines welcomed Arvie “Aqua” Calderon back with a 2-1 reverse sweep of Onic Philippines, kicking off its Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 12 campaign at the Shooting Gallery Studios in Makati City.
Aqua, a member of the MLBB Southeast Asian Cup 2022 champion roster, chose to skip Season 11. Once again, he delivered a phenomenal performance, including an intriguing Gord pick that helped RSG mount a successful comeback in Game 2 to avoid a sweep.
“Dapat, what we should do with the Fanny is, we should force early-game clashes. If the enemy overextends or tries to be aggressive, dapat mag-clash. But what Onic PH did was they played very passively, ingat na ingat. Kaya there was really no opportunity for Irrad’s Fanny to shine or secure a kill,” said RSG head coach Brian “Panda” Lim regarding the Game 1 affair in which Onic played meticulously, negating RSG’s early-game advantage with the Fanny pick.
Onic drew first blood after surviving a tight 26-minute encounter in Game 1, highlighting Ralph “Rapidoot” Adrales’ return to the pro scene. He finished with a 0-1-10 KDA on Khufra, showcasing the setups that fueled Onic’s successful aggressions.
It seemed like a sweep was imminent when Onic held a 6k net worth lead at the 14th-minute mark. However, Eman “EMANN” Sangco (Beatrix) scored a double kill during the lord fight, leading to RSG’s 4-0 wipe, turning the tide and equalizing the score at 1-1.
Game 3 came down to a 25th-minute lord dance, where John “Irrad” Abarquez (Lancelot) secured a double kill, promptly ending the series moments later.
RSG will face Blacklist International next on September 9.
