Six seasons.
That is how long it took for Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel and David “FlapTzy” Canon to secure a return trip to the world stage after leading AP.Bren to a 3-0 sweep of Blacklist International in the MPL Philippines Season 12 upper bracket finals, earning their ticket to the M5 World Championship.
After winning the M2 World title, AP.Bren stumbled to a 4th place finish in Season 7, losing to the eventual MSC 2021 champions, Execration, led by goldlaner Duane “Kelra” Pillas.
Following that were two seasons in which the Hornets failed to make the playoffs. When they finally clinched a postseason spot, they finished 4th in back-to-back seasons.
Now, having finally overcome this hurdle, FlapTzy is glad to put an end to years of futility in the MPL.
“Parang di ko maexplain yung feeling ko kasi parang sobrang saya ko.
“Kasi for the past seasons, kahit puro laglag, puro talo, yung tiwala namin sa isa’t isa ni Kuya Pheww saka ni Coach Duckey andun pa rin. Hindi nawawala. Kaya sobrang thankful ako sa kanilang dalawa kasi kahit puro talo, hindi kami naghihiwalay. Kami pa rin yung magkakasama hanggang sa umangat. Magkakasama kami sa baba. Magkakasama pa rin kami sa taas,” shared FlapTzy.
Pheww echoed the sentiments.
“Sobrang saya namin kasi after ng ilang seasons na nabigo kami, yung mga times na laglag kami, andito na kami ulti sa international stage sa M-series,” he said.
Looking ahead to M5, both Pheww and FlapTzy expect a completely different experience this time, as the whole world has caught up with the Philippine meta after dominating the international scene since winning the Southeast Asian Games 2019 gold medal.
“Yung quality ng gameplay ngayon sa M5 sobrang laki ng pagkakaiba sa M2. Yung M2 kasi microhan lang talaga. Hindi pa uso yung mga teamplay teamplay noon. Ngayong M5, sobrang taas na talaga ng quality ng gameplay,” said Pheww.
FlapTzy believes this will be their toughest test yet.
“Sobrang dami nang teams na malakas ngayon na nakakasabay na talaga eh. Tapos iba-iba pa yung meta nila kaya mas mahirap tong M5.”
