KUALA LUMPUR – RSG PH claimed that Nathanael “Nathzz” Estrologo experienced an unusual ‘bug’ during the team’s Game One clash against Orange Esports in the upper bracket semifinals of the 2022 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup, Thursday.
As explained by jungler Jhonard “Demonkite” Caranto and reserve Dexter “Exort” Martinez, Nathzz looked like he was playing an entirely different game from the rest of the nine players on the field.
“Yung nangyari, nagkaroon ng technical issue. Yung ML kasi ni Nathzz, parang napunta siya sa ibang game. Yung nangyayari sa ML niya, different sa nangyayari sa ML namin,” said Demonkite following RSG PH’s 3-0 domination of the host squad.
“Yung sa bug issue kay Nathzz, nung una kasi nun parang nagpapa-pause na si Nathzz kaso ‘di siya ma-gets nung mga marshal kasi hindi naman ganun ka-galing mag english si Nathzz pero tinulungan ko siya i-translate kung ano yung sinasabi niya about sa bug,” said the RSG PH jungler, who was the one who he helped Nathzz address the issue to the marshals.
There was even a moment in the game when the EXP laner said that he was able to take down Mann’s Lylia but it did not appear on his teammates’ screens. Mann, according to the other players, was very much alive at that time.
“They realized it when Nathzz called that he killed Lylia but [our] teammates are questioning him because in their [screens], Lylia is alive so they paused the [game],” added Exort.
Nathzz, however, scored a kill on the Lylia in the middle lane during the 5:05-mark of the game but it was not clear if that was the exact incident that Exort was referring to.
During the first turtle fight of Game One, Nathzz, who was coming from the top lane to help his teammates secure the objective, went straight to Garyy (Helcurt) before helping Dylan “Light” Catipon (Franco) and Arvie “Aqua” Calderon (Kagura) take down Born’s Esmeralda in the A3 bush. The three then tried to chase down Minn (Atlas), who was heading straight to Orange Esports’ middle outer turret.
That is where everything started as Nathzz, who stepped on the Cyclone Eye before throwing his Molten Scythes, stood near Orange Esports’ Serpent pit for exactly five seconds – a very unusual thing to do at the time – before turning back midway into the 2nd minute of the match.
RSG PH requested a pause, which lasted for exactly two minutes and five seconds, immediately after the incident where Demonkite was seen helping Nathzz explain his situation to the officials.
“Ayun, nung kinausap ko yung marshal parang doon kami nagkaintindihan na ayusin yung problema about doon sa bug kay Nathzz,” shared Demonkite.
The issue, unfortunately, was still not addressed in the first pause, prompting Nathzz to ask for another timeout at the 9:45-mark of the match. With this, Demonkite, who already seemed upset at the time, took Nathzz’s phone to explain once again the situation to the marshals.
RSG PH had just secured the first Lord of the contest while also establishing a 7K gold advantage over the Malaysians. It took the marshals seven minutes and 59 seconds to fix the issue.
Still, the technical issue did not affect RSG PH or Nathzz in any way as they still manhandled Orange Esports in the opener, 24-9, in 17 minutes of action. The EXP laner finished with three kills, a death, and nine assists in the win.
Nathzz expressed his gratitude to Demonkite for helping him keep his focus all throughout the frustrating incident.
“Tinulungan ako ni Kite nun [tungkol] sa nangyayari in-game tapos ayun, nag-reset lang ako tapos bawi na ako,” bared Nathzz.
RSG PH mounted a huge come-from-behind win in Game Two before scoring a lopsided victory in Game Three to seal its spot in the upper bracket finals where they will face fellow MPL champions RRQ Hoshi for the first slot in the grand finale.
Tiebreaker Times have already reached out to Moonton regarding the incident but has yet to gain a response as of posting time.
