RSG Philippines leaned on the heroics of rookie exp laner Jhondy “Nibor” Ranque in the decider to finally put away a pesky Smart Omega side and post a 2-1 victory in Week 1 of the MPL Philippines Season 13 at the Shooting Gallery Studios, Saturday.
The Raiders welcomed back Jonard “Demonkite” Caranto who left the team after Season 10 and is coming off a season as the best jungler in the MPL Malaysia.
“More matured and more disciplined as a player sa laro. Plus he’s more of a team player talaga. More communication din. I’m not really dissing Irrad pero on my process of training Irrad, he had the best mechanical skill out of all the junglers I trained,” explained Coach Panda on the difference between Demonkite and John “Irrad” Abarquez.
“But yung kay 1rrad, I really had to take lots of effort to train his discipline plus yung mindset tapos yung team play communication skills. That really takes a long process. You really have to experience it, tapos have more tiwala, trust and communication with your teammates.”
After splitting the first two games, Nibor (X.Borg) displayed composure beyond his years in Game 3 and provided steady play, highlighted by a 14th-minute initiation where he took two kills that capped off a clean 5-0 wipeout to secure the series.
The rookie exp laner took the MVP citation in the decider with a spotless 4-0-6 KDA.
RSG Philippines will next face a rejigged Onic Philippines side on Sunday, March 17.
