Dexter “Exort” Martinez was very close to getting axed prior to Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines Season Nine.
Exort, who thrived in the support role back in his days with Nexplay Esports, transitioned to the gold lane in Season Eight. But with Eman “EMANN” Sangco’s sudden rise, along with the acquisition of Clarense “Kousei” Camilo and the fact that RSG PH’s starting gold laner in Christian “Iy4knu” Manaog is currently on a break, it would not be ideal for the organization to keep all four players.
Fortunately, Exort had a change of heart, asking head coach Brian “Panda” Lim to slide him back to the support spot.
“Si Exort kasi last season he wanted to try gold lane e,” Panda told Tiebreaker Times. “Tapos this season, he finally said na, ‘Coach, baka tanggalin mo ako sige pos four na lang ako.’
“Actually, Exort was on the verge na talaga before Season Nine started, he was really about to get terminated pero he really proved himself as a position four and now he got the chance to bawi na.”
Now back on his original role, the 20-year-old support finally proved himself to Panda and the rest of RSG PH – helping the team extend its winning streak to three games as he filled in for starting support Arvie “Aqua” Calderon, who went down with a fever last week.
On his second game of the season, Exort finished with three kills, two deaths, and 10 assists as Eudora in Game One against Nexplay EVOS. He then followed it up with a 5-3-8 KDA performance in Game Two playing Kagura to help RSG PH seal the quick 2-0 sweep – his second consecutive win as a starter.
“I’m very happy that Exort was a substitute for Aqua. He really did his job well today and I’m very proud of him also,” expressed Panda.
For his part, Exort is just glad to make a contribute to the team in-game after playing just one series last season – a 0-2 loss at the hands of his former team. Moreover, he’s just glad to finally prove to himself that he still got it.
“Masarap sa feeling na naramdaman ko rin na parang may silbi pa rin pala ako sa team na… kasi last season isang series lang ako nag laro tapos feeling ko wala akong ambag sa team tapos ngayon masarap sa feeling talaga kasi synced talaga kami lahat kahit sinong mag laro, synced pa rin malakas pa rin lahat,” shared Exort.
According to coach Panda, Aqua is up and ready against Nexplay EVOS but opted to let Exort play and continue his momentum.
“Aqua was really well. Actually, I asked Aqua kanina ‘Aqua do you want to come along today? Because what if Exort is b*b* today? I’ll put you as my safety plan,” said the former national team head coach.
“Pero sabi ni Aqua, hindi kailangan coach. Mayroon kaming tiwala talaga kay Exort, win or lose just keep the tiwala and see the results because we all know Exort is really good,” he added.
Exort also shared that he has been playing non-stop with the team’s other reserves in Kousei, Kenneth “Kenji” Villa, and EJ “Heath” Esperanza. He even took the extra step of requesting the team’s coaching staff to schedule scrimmages for the second to prepare.
At last, after a long wait, the hard work finally paid off for Exort.
“Habang yung starting five naglalaro sa MPL, kami pong apat ako, si Kousei, si Kenji, si Heath lagi po kaming nag ra-ranked game tapos nag hahanap na lang po kami ng funnel. Tapos minsan nagpapa-set ako kay Coach Gie, nagpapaset ako ng scrim para hindi puro ranked game ginagawa namin, may scrim din kami,” revealed Exort.
“Masarap sa feeling na parang may napatunayan na rin ako saka parang na-gain ko yung trust nila. Parang worth it lahat ng effort pati yung pagod ko para lang makuha ko yung trust nila,” added the pride of Cavite.
RSG PH solidified its hold of the third spot with 16 points through a 6-2 standing. They will take on Bren Esports at 6:00 PM on Friday to try and extend its winning streak to four games.
