The past weeks have been rough for Omega Esports team captain Patrick “E2MAX” Caidic.
Omega Esports, despite fielding in an intact roster this MPL Philippines Season Nine, went 0-2 in the opening week of the tournament. They suffered lopsided losses at the hands of TNC and ECHO.
But besides the deflating losses, the 25-year-old support veteran has been dealing with family problems, which may have played a role in his underwhelming performance.
Knowing he might not perform at his best, E2MAX asked Omega Esports coach Jomie “P4kbet” Abalos if he could sit out the team’s sole assignment in week two.
“Nagsimula kasi sa second week namin. Dapat noong Thursday yung last practice namin, pero sinabihan kami ni E2MAX nung Thursday na ayaw niya maglaro,” P4kbet told reporters on Saturday.
“Ayoko muna maglaro kasi ang dami kong iniisip, problema sa pamilya sabi niya,” he added.
P4kbet immediately granted E2MAX’s request. After all, his players’ well-being always comes first.
And with E2MAX out indefinitely, P4kbet turned to rookie Jefferson “Amethyst” Santos to man the support role against RSG PH. Unfortunately, the personnel change still resulted in a loss — dropping Omega Esports, last season’s third placer, to a league-worst 0-3 standing.
Heading to the third week, with the team still looking for its first win, the offlaner-turned-support from Valenzuela turned to his coach anew.
“‘Laro na ako Paks,” E2MAX told P4kbet.
But before fielding him in right away, the P4kbet first made sure if E2MAX was fit to play.
(C) MPL PH
“Una sabi ko sa kanya, ‘Okay ka na ba talaga? Makakapaglaro ka na ba?’ Kase hindi sila nagco-connect ni Ch4knu nung unang dalawang week. Paano natin maayos yan,” recalled P4kbet.
After getting clearance from Omega Esports head coach Tony “Ynot” Senedrin, P4kbet also asked E2MAX to play ranked games with Dean “Raizen” Sumagui and Joshua “Ch4knu” Mangilog.
According to him, the three lacked chemistry in the team’s two first-week losses.
“So si Amethyst pa rin yung naglalaro noong Monday so pagka-gabi sabi ko, try ko si E2MAX. Noong naglaro kami sa scrim noong Monday, sobrang smooth yung laro namin so sabi namin, sige try natin si E2MAX, hanggang buong week na ito,” the player-turned-coach said.
“Sinabihan ko nga sina Raizen, si Ch4knu, at si E2MAX na tatlo lang silang magra-rank game para mabuo yung chemistry nila. Kase hindi sila nagco-connect eh,” P4kbet added.
On Friday night, E2MAX finally made his return to the main five. It also marked the SMART-backed squad’s first victory in four games, taking down ONIC PH in a thrilling three-game series — which included a cardiac finish in Game Three.
The team came back the next day, taking out Nexplay EVOS through a 2-1 outing to complete its two-game sweep of the third week.
E2MAX’s return definitely turned things around for Omega Esports. And they’re hoping to keep the momentum going moving forward.
“So ngayon um-okay na.”
